Sweeney Celebrates Construction Start for Dealership

BOARDMAN, Ohio – Steel framing should start this week for the new Sweeney Buick GMC dealership building, the dealership’s vice president said Monday. 

Township officials and contractors joined Sweeney and Buick GMC officials to celebrate construction of the 40,000-square-foot building, which is slated to open a year from now. A November 2017 storm caused extensive damage to the dealership’s building, 7997 Market St., forcing the consolidation of Sweeney Buick GMC’s service department with Sweeney Chevrolet across the street.

“It’s taken us a lot of work to get to this point,” said Alexa Sweeney Blackann, vice president of Sweeney Chevrolet Buick GMC. 

The new building will include a showroom for General Motors’ Buick and GMC brands and service department, Blackann said. It will also house the headquarters for the Sweeney dealerships as well as the call center and accounting office.    

Sweeney will add 7,500 square feet to its Superlot building to provide more space for its Pace Performance parts division, which sells parts all over the world, she said.

Mahoning County records estimate the value of the project at $4.9 million. DeSalvo Construction, Hubbard, is the general contractor on the project, and Baker, Bednar, Snyder and Associates, Howland, is the architect.  

“We’re looking for a turnover date of spring 2020,” said Mark Dodd, project manager with DeSalvo Construction. 

“It’s a significant investment in Boardman and we’re excited to partner with Boardman Township to make that investment. We think this is the right place to be, Market Street in Boardman,” Blackann said.

Township trustees Larry Moliterno, Tom Costello and Brad Calhoun were among those who attended the event.

“We’ve always supported the Sweeney family. They’ve always invested in Boardman,” Moliterno said. The Sweeneys were among the organizations that recognized the need to address water retention in the township, which was “a big part of this project,” he said.   

The new building will incorporate elements from GM’s facility image program, said Dean Ciccoritti, Buick GMC zone manager. After the storm hit, Sweeney “made a decision not to just go ahead and do a rebuild but actually build a brand-new, state-of-the-art dealership,” and has “wholeheartedly agreed to follow the plan,” Ciccoritti said. 

“Buick and GMC have put a lot of thought into a customer experience that’s unique for a Buick customer and a GMC customer, so there are totally different looks and feels in the showroom,” Blackann said. “I don’t know that there’s any other dealership that’s being constructed that’s going to have those features right now.”

Most of the features that will stand out will be the amenities available to customers, Ciccoritti said. 

“We collectively want to give the customers the best experience they can have when coming in and looking at a vehicle,” he said. “Certainly once this building is completed and finished, hopefully within the next year, those customers will have that state-of-the-art experience, both from an interior standpoint and a technology standpoint as well, jut a great place to be and great place to shop.”

Foundations are in, much of the underground work already is completed and steel should be arriving in the next few weeks, Blackann said. “Then we’ll really start moving,” she remarked. 

Pictured: Steel framing should begin this week for Sweeney Buick GMC’s showroom.

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