Superior Tesla dealership appears to have green light

SUPERIOR — The highly anticipated and long-delayed Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) showroom in Downtown Superior appears to be still on track to open.

Early this year, the Silicon Valley-based electric-car maker announced that it would attempt to cut costs by shifting its sales strategy away from brick-and-mortar dealerships. However, Tesla has since filed documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suggesting that it had decided against such a drastic move away from physical dealership spaces. 

Approved by Superior town leaders in early 2018, the 22,000-square-foot sales and service center at the corner of McCaslin Boulevard and Marshall Road was initially expected to open in spring 2019. 

The building sat mostly dormant and nearly entirely built for months. However, crews are currently working to complete the interior of the showroom, and Tesla recently joined the Superior Chamber of Commerce.

“‘When is the Tesla dealership opening?’ That’s the No. 1 question I’m asked from people in the community,” Superior Chamber of Commerce executive director T.J. Sullivan told BizWest Monday. “I probably get asked five or six times a week.”

Tesla has been tight-lipped about the status of the Superior showroom and when it may open. Multiple requests for comment over the past several months have gone unanswered. 

While he said he couldn’t definitively pin Tesla down on a specific grand-opening date, Superior mayor Clint Folsom confirmed that the company has pulled building permits to complete interior work and could finish as early as next spring. 

The sales and service center will be a welcome addition for the budding Downtown Superior area, town leaders say. The mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development could eventually feature 1,400 homes, along with 44,600 square feet of commercial and retail space, 373,000 square feet of office space and 500 hotel rooms.

“It’s great that [Tesla] will be there to help as the Downtown Superior starts to develop,” Sullivan said. “It will be a jewel in our crown even before the crown is even fully created.”

The showroom building is located on a 2.5-acre parcel owned by GCH Superior LLC, which, according to Boulder County public records, is a Littleton-based entity. That property is currently for sale, but the owners have a long-term lease with Tesla in place, according to marketing materials from California-based brokerage and real estate investment firm Preserve West Capital. 

The Superior showroom will be the first Tesla dealership to operate in the Boulder Valley since the company moved its Boulder location to Denver in 2011. Tesla also has Colorado dealerships in Littleton and Lone Tree. 

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