Car dealer William “Bill” Lehman Jr. just bought a strip of land next to Miami International Mall for $8.2 million, property records show.
Lehman financed the deal with a $9.4 million loan from JP Morgan. It’s zoned for industrial development.
Simon Property Group sold the 8.4 acres of land directly north of Lehman’s Doral Kia dealership at 10155 Northwest 12th Street. Simon declined to comment. The site is between Simon’s Miami International Mall and International Corporate Park.
Lehman is the president of Lehman Dealership Enterprises, which operates multiple dealerships throughout Miami-Dade. He said he plans to use the land to expand his Doral Kia and Hyundai dealerships. The deal took more than two years to close, and Lehman is now in talks with Miami-Dade County to purchase the adjacent road.
Records show the property last traded for $12.57 million in 1997. Simon leased the land to festivals, like the annual House of Horror Haunted Carnival, Lehman said.
Lehman joins a number of dealership owners who are expanding their real estate portfolios. Last month, Robert “Bob” Brockway, chairman and CEO of Bill Ussery Motors, paid $11 million for an office building across the street from the firm’s Mercedes-Benz of Coral Gables dealership. And Chevy dealer Arnaldo Bomnin is set to close on a former Toys “R” Us building on U.S. 1 next to one of his dealerships with plans to expand.