Dealership eyes property for potential expansion

Now that the owner of a major Lehigh Valley auto dealership bought a nearly two-acre site in Lower Macungie Township at a sheriff’s sale last week, he’s eyeing the land for potential expansion.

Gregg Ciocca, CEO of Ciocca Dealerships of Quakertown, said he bought the former Charcoal Drive-In and commuter parking lot for $1.16 million but is not certain what he will do with it.

“I don’t have exact plans,” Ciocca said. “I thought it was an iconic spot, it had great visibility.”

Ciocca said he was monitoring the spot and decided to buy it when the property went up for auction.

Bieber Transportation, which went out of business earlier this year, had been running buses out of the vacant drive-in property on Hamilton Boulevard near Interstate 78.

Ciocca said while he doesn’t have exact plans for it, he thought it would be a great spot for future expansion, considering its proximity to the company’s Subaru and Audi dealerships.

Ciocca said his company is building its 21st dealership, which is a 150,000-square-foot-dealership in Philadelphia. The company has about 1,300 employees.

He said he does not know if the former Charcoal Drive-In site will become another dealership and he has not submitted any plans to the township.

“The Charcoal-Inn just made great sense for future expansion, I just thought it was valuable,” Ciocca said. “We see the Lehigh Valley as a huge target market for us. We want to continue to expand up in that market.”