The Hiawatha City Council, at its meeting Feb. 21, unanimously approved the site plan and building materials for a new Hyundai dealership facility on the McGrath Family of Dealerships campus.
The new Hyundai facility will comprise approximately 25,000 square feet on 3.7 acres of land at 1090 North Center Point Road in Hiawatha, just to the north of the existing campus, and include both sales and service functions.
Lindsay McGrath, general manager of the McGrath dealerships, said the company will break ground on the new Hyundai facility this spring, with expected completion by the fall of 2025.
The council approved the project with little discussion.
“I think it’s going to be a nice-looking building,” council member Rob Archibald said.
The building will be constructed with a flat roof and various exterior finishes, including composite panels and a full-height glass storefront.
The site development includes existing landscaping, parking, exterior lighting and stormwater management, including a detention basin.
The facility will adhere to “very specific design standards” prescribed by Hyundai under the company’s ongoing GDSI (Global Dealership Space Identity) design benchmark.
Ms. McGrath said about 78% of Hyundai dealers nationwide have either completed, or are in the process of completing, new dealership facilities.
“The elements are pretty much identical across the U.S.,” she said.
Ms. McGrath said the company acquired the local Hyundai franchise as part of the purchase of the former Zimmerman Auto Center in July 2017. The Hyundai franchise was then moved to the McGrath campus in Hiawatha in March 2020, sharing a building with McGrath’s Ford dealership in a building formerly used for Buick, Cadillac and GMC sales after those three franchises moved to a newly-constructed facility at 1600 51st St. NE.
