BURBANK DEALING FOR AUTO VENDOR.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

The city finally has a car dealer on the hook.

After years of trying to lure new car dealers to Burbank, officials disclosed Monday that CAG Investments LLC is planning to buy 12 acres of old Lockheed property to build a multi-franchise Chrysler dealership.

It is the first of what city officials hope will be many new dealerships in the city.

Tonight the Burbank City Council will consider a proposal to give CAG Investments LLC an incentive to build in Burbank.

The company is expected to ask the council to approve an agreement in which the dealership would be able to keep 50 percent of all the local sales taxes generated during its first 10 years of operation. City Manager Robert `Bud' Ovrom said the deal is being offered as incentive to get CAG Investments to build a dealership in Burbank.

CAG Investments is run by Marshall Chesrown, a longtime car dealer who recently sold off Chrysler dealerships he owned in Denver and currently runs a dealership in Riverside.

Ovrom said CAG Investments is planning to buy 12 acres of vacant land to build a new Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealership. The 12 acres is part of a 103-acre site that Zelman Development Company is in the process of buying from Lockheed Martin Corp. Zelman is slated to seek approval for its 750,000-square-foot Burbank Empire Center project early next year. The new dealerships would be part of Burbank Empire Center, which is made up mostly of big-box retail stores.

While the sales tax deal is on the table tonight, the council will not consider approving a development agreement with the dealer until the Burbank Empire Center project is considered next year.

The proposed sales tax sharing agreement was placed on the agenda at the last minute on Monday. Ovrom said both the city and the Chrysler dealer want to approve the agreement before Jan. 1, when a new state law concerning car dealers goes into effect.

Under the new law, if a car dealership moves from one city to another, the dealership's new home city must share sales tax revenues with the city that the car dealership deserted. Ovrom said CAG Investments plans to build an all-new dealership. However, he said, they want to have the option of buying an existing dealership and moving it to Burbank without having to comply with the new law. The city of Burbank also wants to avoid the new law, since the city does not want to have to share its tax revenues with other cities.

``They would like to have an agreement that predates (the new law),'' Ovrom said.

Although Burbank officials have been accused of attempting to steal dealerships from neighboring Glendale, Ovrom said the city is pursuing new dealerships ``It is not our intention to steal dealerships from Los Angeles and Glendale,`` Ovrom said.

For the last several years Burbank has been attempting to lure car dealers with two vacant sites located adjacent to the Golden State (5) Freeway. The sites are attractive to dealers, who usually want locations near freeways because it helps draw in customers.

Burbank city officials also hope car dealers will eventually move into an eight-acre site that was once home to Zero Manufacturing Company. That site is currently owned by Ford Motor Company, but plans for new Ford dealerships there have been stalled for a year. Area Ford dealers have so far been unable to agree on whether a new Ford dealership should be put at the site, said Brad Boeckmann, a vice president at Galpin Ford.

Galpin Ford officials still hope to open a Ford dealership at the site but have not worked out the details.

``We do feel it's a great location. But we haven't been able to put the deal together,'' Boeckmann said.

Burbank has just one car dealership - Community Chevrolet. Ovrom said that by adding in new auto stores Burbank will finally get its fair share of dealers. Glendale officials have been wary of losing car dealers to Burbank, especially because its massive Brand Boulevard of Cars is not located near any freeways. Still, earlier this year Glendale car dealers lost their battle to get a billboard advertising their dealerships put up on the Ventura (134) Freeway.

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Map: Auto Sales - Burbank