Franklin-Sussex Hyundai gets million-dollar facelift

SUSSEX - Before winter arrives, the management team at Franklin-Sussex Hyundai is planning to re-grade the parking lot off Walling Avenue and install a drainage system. The project would be a shot in the arm for the dealer’s salespeople and customers, particularly since the parking lot currently lacks any type of drainage. “It’s difficult to show vehicles when you’ve got two inches of water in the parking lot,” said General Manager Bill Snouffer. The new parking lot is just one component of a $1 million upgrade that’s underway for the former High Point Chevrolet-Hyundai dealership that was acquired in May by Nielsen Automotive Group, the operating group behind Franklin-Sussex Auto Mall. The smaller of two showrooms for the dealership is currently being re-tiled while a raised area on the Loomis Avenue side of the property is being lowered to ground level in order to make the interior of the building visible from the road, said Snouffer. Part of a bigger project Snouffer said that all of the construction work being done at the dealership falls within the guidelines of the Route 23 realignment project planned in Sussex Borough by the New Jersey Department of Transportation, which is targeted to be completed in 2013. The inside of the facility, which has already been repainted and wallpapered, will also have its original showroom from 1911 refinished once the smaller showroom has been completed, said Snouffer. Once the reconstruction of the larger showroom has kicked off, the company will begin re-facing the exterior of the building and install new signs. He’d like to see all of the work completed by year-end. “We’re hoping to improve the overall look of the facility,” said Snouffer. He said he wants Franklin-Sussex Hyundai to have the same “state-of-the-art” appearance as the Franklin-Sussex Auto Mall located on Routes 23 and 565. News of the dealer’s reconstruction plans was welcomed by members of the Sussex Borough Council at its Sept. 15 meeting. “New ownership has been very cooperative with the borough,” said Sussex Borough Mayor Chris Parrott. The overhaul of the Franklin-Sussex Hyundai dealership “will bring a real nice look to the center of Sussex Borough,” said Snouffer.