Auto dealership buys site of popular Walnut Creek sports bar and grill
WALNUT CREEK — A Bay Area auto dealership has bought the site of a popular sports bar and restaurant in a deal that could signal a new use for the Walnut Creek property.
Price Simms Management, which is associated with Price Family Dealerships and Tom Price Automotive, has bought the location where Masses Sports Bar & Grill operates at the corner of North Main Street and Second Avenue, according to documents on file with the Contra Costa County Recorder’s Office.
The automotive dealership chain, acting through an affiliate, paid $12.5 million to buy the property, whose addresses include 2717 and 2721 North Main Street and 1510 and 1530 Second Avenue in Walnut Creek, the county real estate records show.
The Price Simms Management affiliate also obtained a loan from Toyota Motor Credit Corp. at the time of its purchase of the site.
Automotive manufacturers at times use their financial subsidiaries to bankroll the purchase of real estate by a local auto dealer as a way to ensure their brands are sold at that retail location. Price Simms executives didn’t respond to phone inquiries from this news organization regarding the real estate purchase.
Toyota Motor Credit provided $10.6 million in financing to the Price affiliate in connection with the real estate transaction.
Larkspur-based Price Family Dealerships operates numerous automotive dealerships in the Bay Area. Several sites are in Marin County, several in Santa Clara County, including San Jose, a locator map on the company’s website shows. Two Price dealerships are in Walnut Creek, including a Toyota car sales outlet on North Broadway.
Several automotive retailers operate on this stretch of North Main Street, including Porsche, Subaru and Volvo.