The three new Nissan, Jeep and RAM franchise showrooms for vehicle salesman and Dunedin city councillor Andrew Simms are expected to be operational in about 14 months’ time.
They will join the already completed Mitsubishi showroom at the site.
It was announced earlier this year the now-former Mad Butcher store, on land owned by Mr Simms, would be closing as it could not find another suitable retail site in the area.
Mr Simms said the buildings on the site being demolished were all ‘‘well overdue’’ for a replacement.
‘‘They’re old, sort of 1920s buildings that are certainly right at the end of their lives.’’
Demolition was expected to take another three to four weeks.
The former Mad Butcher building would take more time than anticipated to take down as it contained asbestos.
‘‘We knew there were some asbestos issues, but we didn’t realise it was quite as extensive as it was.’’
The project was a ‘‘significant undertaking’’ with a total spend of about $10m, which included the completed Mitsubishi showroom.
There could quite possibly be another franchise at the site — negotiations were under way for getting BYD vehicles at the site.
There would also be a large, retail used-car operation on the site, Mr Simms said.
‘‘It’s certainly going to take us into the future in terms of our retail presence in Dunedin.
‘‘We have been quite steady growing our business in Dunedin, but it will allow further acceleration of that growth by just having more space available.’’
