THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE ARTICLE BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Carmack Car Capital changed ownership last year in Danville to become Patriot Motors. Now, Patriot Motors plans to move to Tilton with possible auto mall expansion plans.
Drop in a question of your very own BY CLICKING HERE or by emailing 25-year Vermilion County reporter Jennifer Bailey at jbailey@news-gazette.com.
TILTON — Less than a year ago, Patriot Motors added its first Honda and Hyundai dealer to its growing business with the acquisition of Carmack Honda and Hyundai in Danville.
Now the dealership will be relocating from North Vermilion Street in Danville to Tilton. Plans include separating it into two dealerships and possible expansion into an auto mall, owner Shawn Kohli said.
Tilton Mayor Billy Wear said the site for the estimated $25 million to $30 million project is a farm field along Georgetown Road across from Toyota of Danville.
Wear said Kohli, who lives in the Chicago suburbs, has been growing his businesses and now has about 15 dealerships in Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Kohli bought 27 acres of farmland along Georgetown Road hoping to create an auto mall of car dealerships currently not in this area.
Kohli said the area doesn’t have Kia, Volkswagen or Nissan dealerships, for example.
“That’s the goal,” he said, of creating an auto mall. “A lot of it depends on the other manufacturers.”
Construction on the new dealerships could start by late spring or early summer.
The Tilton Village Board unanimously approved an economic incentive agreement for the two dealerships Thursday night for the move.
The Honda and Hyndai dealerships would be located across from each other on a new road Tilton will be constructing off Georgetown Road, Wear said.
The land will be subdivided, with each dealership on a 3-acre lot.
Kohli said this is a little bit of a smaller market, but he hopes to convince the other automakers to locate here to also reach the Champaign-Urbana and western Indiana markets.
Under the agreement with Tilton, there is a sales-tax rebate of $100,000 for each dealership; the village will build infrastructure to the property; and it will receive a tax-increment-financing district rebate annually for 10 years.
The latter is reimbursement for the property purchase, Wear said.
The incentive money will come from the TIF-district fund, which sees increased funding from property reassessments in the district.
Wear said Tilton didn’t lure the dealership away from Danville.
“We didn’t go fishing. They were looking for a location. They approached us,” he said.
Kohli said when he acquired Carmack in Danville in Februrary 2024 and changed it to Patriot Motors, he was looking to build two new facilities for showrooms and service areas for Honda and Hyundai, but the property really couldn’t be separated, and it was going to be very expensive to rebuild. Plus, “I like closer to the interstate.”
He said Georgetown Road also already has Toyota and Chevrolet dealerships.
“It makes the most sense,” he said of the relocation.
He said Patriot Motors still will operate in Danville until construction is complete in Tilton.
Wear said the village has to get all the utilities coordinated for the project, while the new road could cost about $3.5 million to $4 million.
He said the dealership project is estimated at $20 million.
“It’s great for Tilton,” Wear said. “We don’t assess a real-estate tax. We run off sales tax,” so the additional revenue from the new dealership could be be used for things such as more police, the ambulance service and roads.
He’s also excited about the new health clinic, a family restaurant and a new Culver’s.
Wear said it may take a month or so for all the legal paperwork to go through on the dealership project, while design and bidding for the infrastructure may take two to three months.
Wear said the state has already been contacted about the approach on Georgetown Road.
Tilton officials also have an engineering firm to iron out construction details and will be taking out loans for the infrastructure work.
Kohli said he hopes he can break ground by spring or summer.
“Tilton has been fantastic to work with,” he added.
