Benton Nissan owner: No plans to relocate to Irondale, will expand in Hoover

The owner of the Benton Nissan dealership in Hoover today said he does not plan to relocate his dealership to Irondale, but instead hopes to expand in Hoover.

On Monday night, Hoover City Council President Gene Smith said the dealership was eyeing a move to Irondale after failing to get a tax incentive from the city of Hoover to help with an upgrade of the Hoover location.

Dale Benton of the Benton Automotive Group today said he did talk to Irondale officials about a possible move there but nothing was officially done, and he hopes to expand and improve the Hoover dealership instead.

“Benton Nissan of Hoover is proud to serve the Hoover and Birmingham community,” Benton said.

He did approach Hoover Mayor Frank Brocato to see if he could get a tax abatement for improvements to his dealership, but Brocato said he did not think that would be fair to other dealerships that have made improvements without tax incentives.

Benton said he hopes to expand in Hoover regardless. “I’m not trying to hold the city hostage,” he said.

Perhaps Smith assumed the talks with Irondale were more concrete than they actually were, Benton said.

Benton said he plans to make close to $1 million worth of improvements to the Hoover dealership at 1640 Montgomery Highway, including expanding the showroom and service area, renovating the service department, repair shop and restrooms, improving parking and addressing a drainage issue behind the dealership.

He hopes to begin the work near the beginning of 2019, and it should take three to four months to complete, he said.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to serve our community and hope to enhance our guests’ experience in the future with these improvements.”

Smith today said that he's glad to hear Benton NIssan will be staying in Hoover and that he never wanted to see the dealership go elsewhere.