10:55 am, January 5, 2023
A former car showroom in Essex could become a huge Turkish restaurant.
Change-of-use plans have been lodged with Basildon Borough Council to turn the vacant 2,730sq m Longmans Motors site on the A132 in East Mayne, Basildon, into an eatery holding more than 100 diners.
If given the go-ahead, the restaurant would create 15 full-time jobs according to the application form, submitted by Murat Oktem, which is on the council website.
The 0.84-acre freehold plot was marketed with an asking price of offers in excess of £1.75m, Car Dealer discovered, with our research also revealing that it was bought by K.E. Kent Transport & Storage, making the firm, which works within the construction logistics sector, the new landlord.
According to the sales material, the plot comprised the showroom, measuring 286 square metres, plus ground-floor and first-floor offices and a workshop.
The site was used to sell second-hand cars for the past 30 years, the brochure also said.
However, K.E. Kent director Daniel Nolan told Car Dealer that it was negotiating with a number of other interested parties and it was ‘pretty much going to come down to whoever crosses the line first’.
He added: ‘Every interested party will be seeking a change of use from a car showroom, so there are no plans for a car showroom to go back there. There’s no one looking to sell vehicles or trucks or bikes or anything like that.
‘From a landlord’s point of view, we’re hoping that one of these interested parties is going to be looking at a long-term lease – 20 years or more.
‘I understand that so far it’s only the owners of the Turkish restaurant that have actually managed to get their planning application in. But by no means does that mean that that site is going to become a Turkish restaurant.
‘At the end of the day, we will thrash out a deal with whichever party puts the most attractive proposal to us.’
And he revealed that one of the other hopefuls is a fuel company that wants to install more charging points than pumps.
‘Nothing is set in stone at the moment, though, and any prospective tenant does have to meet our criteria as landlord.
‘We’ve got no intention to sell the site. We’re looking for a long-term lease-holder.’
Longmans, which began life in 1957, has another showroom in nearby Long Riding, and proprietor Ron Longman told Car Dealer it was decided to consolidate the business and operate solely from the Long Riding site, as it would be more beneficial.
The East Mayne showroom closed some six months ago.
According to the Basildon Echo, the restaurant would have space for 108 people at a time.
Image via Google Street View shows the Longmans East Mayne dealership as it was in August 2021
Car Dealer Live – the future of the car dealer – exclusive conference features talks from leading car dealers, Google and Auto Trader among much more. Find out the full event details and book tickets.
