- April 24, 2024
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Founder Mike McKinney, spokesperson Jon Astore and founder David Slone perform the groundbreaking ceremony. (Photos by Ian Swaby)
A series of sports cars are parked on the site of the future Luxe Dream Garage.
Bradenton's Anne Duell and Lakewood Ranch's Jon Graybeal help themselves to the wide variety of food.
Bradenton's Anne Duell, Benny Rivera and Doug Duell chat over food and drinks at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Bradenton's Ben Bernheim and Guy Bernheim arrive in a Chevy Camaro SS 1LE.
Lakewood Ranch's Daryl Brown steps into his Ferrari F8 Spider.
Lakewood Ranch's Joann Calouri, who is serving beverages, talks with Sarasota's Shay Spradlin, Luxe Dream Garage owner David Slone's fiancee.
Luxe spokesperson Jon Astore and Lakewood Ranch's Daryl Brown talk in front of Brown's Ferrari F8 Spider.
The area beside the lake along Communications Drive is set to be developed into the Luxe One garage.
A Chevrolet Corvette (C8) arrives on the scene.
Lakewood Ranch's James Slone, brother of Luxe Dream Garage Owner David Slone, helps himself to sliders.
Bradenton's Ben Bernheim arrived in his Camaro SS 1LE.
Bradenton's Angel and Emily Carduno provided catering.
Jon Astore talks with Garage Living owner Rusty Halm, who will be working with Luxe to provide interior furnishings for the garages.
A wide variety of refreshments were available to beat the summer heat.
Lakewood Ranch's Joann Calouri pours a drink for Tucker Carrell from North Dakota, who is visiting family in Lakewood Ranch with his wife Caroline Carrell.
Andrew Stultz of Venice talks cars with Cindi and Alan Davis of Englewood.
Jon Astore talks with event photographers, Sarasota's Nicholas and Jasmine Bath.
Englewood's Alan Davis steps into his Land Rover Defender which includes a special large engine that he says increases the car's capacity for speed.
Lakewood Ranch's Paul Jackowski is welcomed to the event by Sarasota's Shay Spradlin.
Bradenton's Joe Brielmann takes off in his Ferrari 488 Pista.
Ground had yet to be broken Aug. 13 in Lakewood Ranch on the new Luxe Dream Garage complex, but auto lovers already were lined up with their shiny sports cars.
Bradenton’s Ben Bernheim said he arrived early on the site behind Gold Coast Eagle Distributing to meet other future users of the garage condos. He can see his friends able to hang out in an air conditioned garage, chatting about their favorite subject: cars.
The gathering was alongside a pond on Communications Parkway, just west of Systems Court. The land directly east of the pond will house the facility termed by the developers as Luxe One, which is expected to open in 2023 and to contain 65 units. A second facility, Luxe Two, will be built at the northwest corner of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard and Communications Parkway, and is expected to open in 2024 with 64 units.
Founders Mike McKinney and David Slone, and spokesperson Jon Astore, used three special shovels for the occasion to move a little dirt and get the construction part of the project officially underway. Slone said the group was excited as they have been discussing the project since January.
“You have no idea how long it takes to get a project like this off the ground,” he said.
With the region packed with car collectors who own multiple cars with nowhere to store them, the time has been right for Luxe Dream Garage.
Slone said the service offers more than simply a secure way to store vehicles.
“We're going to have a place where these people are going to be really excited to hang out,” he said. “We're going to do events at the clubhouse, and there's just going to be a nonstop camaraderie going on there.”
Attendees were already envisioning the future of the two garage sites.
“Everything they're doing is to (develop) camaraderie,” said Alan Davis, who came from Englewood to attend the event, along with his wife, Cindi Davis. “We like that a lot. It makes it like a little community, and that's important to us. We're going to know everybody, which is nice.”
The groundbreaking wasn’t the only chance for fans of the project to socialize that day. Attendees began their day by showing their sports cars at the Cars & Coffee event at The Mall at University Town Center before heading to the site of the future garage.
