Lake Barrington lands luxury car dealership

A new car dealership for used luxury vehicles topped the list of four new businesses approved by Lake Barrington officials Tuesday night.

Fidelity Motor Group will take over the site of the former Saturn dealership at 28214 W. Northwest Hwy. and 21875 N. Pepper Road.

Owner John Sfire said he’s already outgrown the site he opened in Palatine a year and a half ago and will soon move 100 percent of the operation to Lake Barrington. The first of the approximately 150 vehicles expected to be showcased there could arrive as soon as this weekend.

“We’re getting an awful lot of inquiries from a lot of people,” Sfire told Lake Barrington village board members.

Village President Kevin Richardson said he’d already dropped by the site and praised Sfire for the extensive renovation to the old building.

“It’s our goal to be the most business-friendly community you have experienced in your career,” Richardson told Sfire. “The welcome mat for business is out in Lake Barrington.”

“I’ve been touting that since we first met,” Sfire replied. “I’ve been doing this for 30 years.”

Sfire, who was previously just in finance but only recently got into the auto business, said the state of the economy helped him cater to the niche market he’s pursuing. He buys high-end cars that are only a year or two old directly from the manufacturers and sells them at a significantly reduced cost from when they were brand-new.

Lake Barrington was the right place for his unexpectedly quick expansion because the financial demographics of the area tie in so well with his product, he said.

Two auto repair businesses were also approved Tuesday for adjacent units of the village’s industrial park.

Randy’s Automotive will be moving into Unit 3 of 28022 Industrial Avenue and CDJ Transmissions will be moving into Unit 2.

The fourth business the board approved Tuesday was a dog training facility made possible by an expansion of the existing Nature’s Select Pet Products store at 22266 W. Pepper Road, units A and B.

Company officials said they may eventually offer dog day care services as well.