Trinity Place Holdings Inc (TPHS)

[Enterprising Investor]

Used-car superstore proposed for Syms site in Paramus (3/06/17)

The former Syms off-price department store on Route 17 could be the new home of used car chain CarMax.

A Paramus retail landmark that used to draw shoppers hunting for bargain suits, dresses and shoes will become a place to look for deals on used Subarus, Saabs, and all kinds of vehicles, if a proposed redevelopment plan is approved.

The former Syms off-price department store on Route 17, and an adjacent Lenscrafters store would be razed and replaced with a used car dealership, according to an application submitted to the Paramus board of adjustment Monday. The application doesn’t state the name of the used car dealership, but the new tenant is believed to be the national chain of used car “superstores,” CarMax.

The project would fill one of Paramus’ largest and longest-standing retail vacancies on Route 17. The 65,000-square-foot Syms store closed in 2012 and has been on the market for a new tenant for five years. The building currently is being used by a temporary tenant, a Restoration Hardware outlet store.

A used-car dealership may not sound like a prime tenant for North Jersey’s premier retail corridor, but the application seeks to reassure Paramus officials by stating that this won’t be a stereotypical car dealership.

It will, the application states, look and function “as a new car dealership” and “the negative old notions of a used car lot do not pertain to this proposal.”

A spokeswoman for CarMax, Lindsey Duke, said the company “has identified the Paramus area as a potential good fit for our current growth plan” but said she could not confirm any specific location. CarMax, she said, usually announces new store openings about a year in advance of an anticipated opening date and that new sites usually take two to three years from the time a location is selected until opening day.

The architectural renderings accompanying the application resemble the standard CarMax design. The application also says the signs on the new building will be white, blue and gold – typical CarMax colors. Sources familiar with the proposal also identified CarMax as the new tenant.

Expansion plans

CarMax, based in Richmond, Va., in 2015 announced plans to open a store on Route 23 in Wayne, on another site with a long-term vacancy, the former State Farm Insurance building.

CarMax pioneered the idea of used-car superstores designed to remove haggling and hassles from the car buying experience. It was founded by executives at the Circuit City electronics retailer who were looking for new business models, and opened its first showroom in 1993. It was spun off from Circuit City 2002 and is a public company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KMX.

CarMax operates more than 170 stores in 39 states. The company said it typically has 200 to 400 cars on the lot at each of its stores, and that stores typically employ 15 to 100 people.
The company, which had revenues of more than $15 billion for the fiscal year ending Feb. 29, 2016, plans to open 13 to 16 new stores each year in 2017 and 2018.

Real estate assets

The former Syms store in Paramus could be redeveloped into a used car dealership, according to an application filed Monday with the borough of Paramus. The photo above shows the side of the building that faces the Garden State Parkway. The building is currently being rented to a Restoration Hardware outlet store. (Photo: STAFF)

The application was submitted by Trinity Place Holdings Inc., the real estate investment company that was formed after the Syms retail chain filed for bankruptcy in 2012. Syms had considerable real estate assets, including a building on Trinity Place in lower Manhattan, the 6-acre site in Paramus, and properties in West Palm Beach, Fla., and Westbury, N.Y.

The application states that the existing buildings on the site, the Syms store and an adjacent Lenscrafter store, will be razed and two new buildings will be constructed: a sales building and a car cleaning facility. Most of the site will be used for storing and displaying vehicles for sale, which will be parked on the site.
The former Syms building on the site proved to be a tough space to lease for several reasons. The building, at 65,000 square feet, is bigger than most retailers want in an age of store downsizing, and the space is divided over two floors, with no escalator or elevator and only a central staircase.

Ripco Real Estate in Lyndhurst was the broker on the site. Ripco declined to comment Monday on the application.

Syms was founded by off-price legend Sy Merinsky – who later legally changed his last name to Syms – who made the slogan “An educated consumer is our best customer,” his chain’s advertising slogan and catchphrase. It was founded in 1958 and had many profitable years until 2000, when sales began to slip in the face of new competition from national chains such as T.J. Maxx. In 2009 it bought another regional off-price chain, Filene’s Basement, which was in bankruptcy. That acquisition, however, rather than saving Syms, hastened its own bankruptcy filing three years later.

http://www.northjersey.com/story/money/2017/03/06/used-car-superstore-proposed-syms-site-paramus/98807350/