Volkswagen dealership wants to move from Mount Prospect to Palatine

The owners of a Volkswagen auto dealership in Mount Prospect want to relocate to Palatine on the site of a longtime gardening business that hopes to move nearby.

Volkswagen of Mount Prospect at 333 W. Rand Road would relocate to 1979 N. Rand Road in Palatine, adjacent to the Napleton Mazda and Napleton Subaru dealerships, under a proposal filed with the village.

It would become the village's 8th new car dealership.

The 3.2-acre site in Palatine is home to seasonal operations for Knupper's Flower & Garden, whose season ends June 30. The 90-year-old business, bought by the Napleton family in 2018, hopes to move nearby on Rand Road, said co-manager Kate Napleton Kysiak, whose father is Steve Napleton of Steve Napleton Automotive Group.

“We are relocating and we intend to come back every spring, perennially, as we say in the gardening business,” she said. “We are even thinking of expanding to a second location.”

Village Manager Reid Ottesen said that when the Mazda and Subaru dealerships — both of which opened last year — originally were approved as part of the Napleton planned development, there were plans for a third dealership on the site.

“This is an good opportunity to continue our redevelopment efforts along the Rand Road corridor and will be very complimentary to the new Mazda and Subaru dealerships as well as the nearby Toyota dealership,” he said.

Volkswagen of Mount Prospect is operated by Weck Auto Group, or WAG, which includes the Elgin KIA dealership.

WAG President Charles Weck said the plan for the new dealership in Palatine calls for a new “state-of-the-art” 16,000-square-foot facility with Volkswagen's “really cool white frame design.”

Week said he's had a long-standing business relationship with Steve Napleton, who owns several dealerships and for whom Weck worked as chief executive officer.

A business proposal filed with the village by WAG states that the Napleton group purchased the Mount Prospect Volkswagen dealership in 2019 with the knowledge that its “poor location” contributed to its unprofitability. Things have improved in the last two years, and Napleton transferred to Weck his shares in an “amicable” agreement, the document states.

But Palatine is, simply put, a better location for auto sales, Weck said.

“The demographics are better. It's more of a known shopping area for cars,” he said, adding that sales increased when Napleton Subaru and Mazda moved from Arlington Heights to Palatine.

Weck said he hopes to break ground in Palatine before the end of the year and finish building by mid-2022, with the caveat that the COVID-19 pandemic has created challenges in securing building materials. “Concrete, steel — everything is in short supply,” he said.

WAG — whose logo depicts Weck's Newfoundland dog, Miesha — is a family business that includes Weck's three children, one of whom would run the new Volkswagen of Palatine dealership.

It's unclear what will happen to the current site of the Volkswagen of Mount Prospect, but there are “a couple of interested parties,” Weck said. “It will probably be a car owner,” he added.

Meanwhile, the gain would be positive for Palatine, Ottesen said.

“Car dealers are significant sales tax contributors and have very low demand for services. This is a real positive financial outcome for the village,” he said.

The plan will be examined by the Palatine plan commission June 15, when a public hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at village hall.