Amador County – The former New Jackson Ford Mercury dealership has been purchased by Jerry Wright, owner of two popular wineries in Plymouth.
CB Richard Ellis commercial real estate company broker Mike Luca said Wright’s purchase was finalized in mid-January. Luca said the property was purchased for less than the asking price of $1.7 million, but he was not at liberty to disclose the sale price. Wright owns the Villa Toscano and Bella Piazza Wineries in Plymouth.
The dealership and 7.78 acres of property have stood empty at 11400 Highway 49 in Martell since New Jackson Ford Mercury owner Charles Smith closed on the dealership on March 24, 2009. Luca said the property had been listed for sale by its owner, Ford Motor Credit, for eight months.
The dealership listed at $1.7 million, or $106 per square foot for the 15,932 square feet of building space. The building was built in 1985, with a showroom and office of wood frame with stucco, and a 12-bay service shop made of metal frame with metal siding. It is zoned “Medium Manufacturing,” in which “most light industrial uses are permitted as well as many uses under Commercial 1 and Commercial 2,” office, retail or church.
Charles Smith closed New Jackson Ford Mercury three months after Frank Halvorson had his Prospect Motors dealership closed by GMAC, when the corporation shuttered hundred of dealerships in California in late December 2008. The Prospect Motors building, across Highway 49 from Smith’s old Ford building, was purchased by the Catholic diocese of Sacramento and three local Amador County parishes early last December.
The former Prospect Motors will house the new “Amador Catholic Center,” to be managed by Father Liam MacCarthy as interim pastor of the three purchasing parishes, Immaculate Conception in Sutter Creek, Sacred Heart in Ione and St. Patrick’s in Jackson.
The Amador Catholic Center, 10 years in the making, was designed by Comstock-Johnson Architects and will feature worship space with 600 seats, a youth center, gymnasium, offices, classrooms, kitchen and a large social hall. Initial renovations are expected to begin this year.
Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
