Car dealer Eddie Accardi’s home in Pompano Beach is in foreclosure, after Regions Bank filed an action on the property July 11. His home, which is 2,896 square feet on the beach in Pompano, has a $2.25 million mortgage issued in 2008. Accardi’s dealerships include a Mazda and Chrysler store, the latter of which was the object of a foreclosure action by Chrysler Financial Services America last year. Accardi kept control of the dealership, although he is now retired. [SFBJ]
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The government’s takeover of General Motors and Chrysler meant pink
slips for car dealers across the country. Bankruptcy proceedings for
Chrysler closed five franchises in South Florida, along with two by
General Motors, though those are expected to be the first of many. The closings eliminate jobs and will push cars off the lot for far less
than market value — and force many dealers to transition to selling
used cars or selling their properties. Veteran automobile dealership broker Gordon Page of Tampa’s Gordon Page
& Associates says these conditions mean falling prices for
dealership lots. “It has devalued the price of their real estate,” says Page, a former
dealership owner who has worked in the car industry since 1958. “We
have a lot of dealers calling asking to sell real estate; a lot of
things have come up to the front and on the table,” he says. [more]

Three South Florida Chrysler dealerships have been identified for
closure as the company tries to emerge from bankruptcy. The dealerships
are Tamiami Chrysler Jeep Dodge on SW Eighth Street in Miami, Maroone
Dodge of Miami on NW Second Avenue, and Monarch Dodge, on State Road 7
in Lauderdale Lakes. Chrysler plans to close 789 dealerships
nationwide, according to the company’s New York bankruptcy court filing
today. [more]