CLIENT NEWS: Tesla plans to open showroom, service center at former Toys R Us
September 13, 2024Tesla could convert a long-shuttered Toys R Us store in Kendall into an electric vehicle showroom and service center.
The Austin, Texas-based automaker (Nasdaq: TSLA) filed a pre-application with Miami-Dade County officials concerning the roughly 45,000-square-foot retail building at 8789 S.W. 117th Ave. It’s located just east of the Palms at Town & Country mall and a few blocks from the Kendall Drive exit of Florida’s Turnpike.
The Toys R Us store there closed in 2018 as the retailer shut all of its stores at the time. The building is still owned by KRCX WRI Holdings LLC, an affiliate of New York-based Kimco Realty Corp. It was built on the 4.56-acre site in 1993.
The landlord would lease the building to Tesla, but the automaker needs county approval to make significant renovations to the property. It would total 44,724 square feet with a showroom for about three vehicles and Tesla energy products, a service center with 31 work bays, a customer lounge, and a breakroom and back office for its employees. There would be 256 parking spaces, including for vehicle inventory and vehicles to be picked up by customers. It would also host test drives.
Tesla generally has customers order vehicles online and pick them up at in the parking lot of its showrooms.
The service work performed on-site would be standard service, such as software updates, tire replacement and balancing, and minor body work such as replacing doors and trunks. There would not be major body work performed on-site. Tesla vehicles don’t require regular engine maintenance.
Local attorney Melissa Tapanes Llahues, who represents Tesla in the application, declined comment. Little Diversified Architectural Consulting in McLean, Virginia, designed the project.
Tesla needs a special exception from the county to allow auto sales and light repair work on the site. Developers file pre-applications to receive feedback from county officials before submitting official applications.
Tesla currently has a showroom at the Dadeland Mall, and a showroom and service center in Coral Gables.
Florida is the second-leading state, behind California, for EV registrations, and Tesla is the largest EV seller in the nation. On the latest Business Journal list of largest South Florida auto dealerships, the Tesla location in Miami Gardens was No. 1.
Tesla has been looking to expand its South Florida footprint. In 2023, it received approval for a service and sales center in Doral, although it has yet to open. In March, Pembroke Pines officials approved a Tesla showroom at the Shops at Pembroke Gardens.
There’s also a pending proposal for a major EV repair facility near West Palm Beach that would include body work, although the company behind that project hasn’t been disclosed.
