PERRYSBURG — The Yark Automotive Business is moving into town with a new Chevrolet dealership on North
Dixie Highway that will more than double the size of the facility it is closing in Whitehouse.
“I think moving into this area will be a wonderful thing for our employees, but also for our customers,”
said John Yark, president of Yark Automotive, at Wednesday’s groundbreaking.
The total project investment will be $22.8 million, including inventory, with an estimated construction
cost of $6.5 million. The business will initially employ 50 people with up to 100 expected in the
future, Yark said.
“We were approached by General Motors several years ago about the opportunity to have a dealership in
Perrysburg, which is obviously a much bigger market and the hottest area in Northwest Ohio when you look
at new vehicle sales and new home construction and everything else,” Yark said. “It’s an incredible
opportunity for Yark Automotive Group, but also Chevrolet, to have a facility in this location.”
Yark Automotive will be moving all the Whitehouse employees to the new facility, with the full staffing
to be complete within the next two years, he said.
Yark Automotive Group is comprised of seven dealerships with 11 new car franchises. In 2018, Yark sold
more than 13,000 vehicles. It has been the number one dealership group in Northwest Ohio for sales, and
Perrysburg is the number one area for new vehicle sales.
The new 57,000-square-feet facility is projected to open in the summer of 2020. It will have 25 service
bays with an 8,000-square-feet showroom, three vehicle work lanes and a 5,000-square-feet car wash and
detail building.
Yark Automotive Group has partnered with Coger/Shambarger Architects to design the dealership and with
Rudolph Libbe Group to construct the building.
The 20-acre property is north of the Ed Schmidt dealership.
“We’re excited about Yark coming to Perrysburg. It’s been a long time coming,” Mayor Tom Mackin said. “It
will bring jobs and more opportunity to our residents. This land has been vacant for a long period of
time. This is something that took a while to develop, but it’s coming to fruition, so we’re excited
about it.”
Yark Automotive requested a 100% abatement of real estate taxes for a period of 10 years. Perrysburg
Council approved an ordinance authorizing the city to enter into a Community Reinvestment Area agreement
with Yark to facilitate the abatement.
“It’s a net win for us,” Jim Matuszak, council president and finance committee chair, previously said.
“If they wouldn’t move here without our giving the abatement, we would lose more in income tax than we
are going to lose in property tax. It’s a good deal for us.”
He was not present for the ground breaking.
With the abatement, Matuszak said, money will still be paid to the school district.
“They don’t get out of 100%. They still have to pay to the schools, at roughly 65% of the real estate
tax. Bottom line, the schools are not impacted at all by the abatement,” he said.
