Lithia Motors lands $31.5M permit for 434,424 sq ft Doral garage

Miami-Dade County issued a $31,471,996 permit on July 10 for a six-story, 434,424 sq ft parking garage on the Doral dealership campus of Lithia Motors (NYSE: LAD), one of the largest auto retailers in the country. It is a very large piece of structured parking for a car dealership, and it is going up on eight acres the company bought for $8,080,000 four years ago.

Why it matters

The economics here read as a verdict on land in Doral’s dealership corridor. Lithia is choosing to stack parking six levels high on a parcel the Property Appraiser still carries as vacant commercial land, while the company’s adjoining 3.01-acre parcel at the same address sits classified as a surface parking lot with a building value of $0. When an owner puts a $31.5M structure on an $8.08M land basis rather than paving it, the land is telling them to build up.

The contractor field also matters to anyone chasing the work. The county record lists the contractor as “OWNER,” meaning Lithia is self-performing or has not registered a general contractor of record. For subcontractors, that points buying decisions at the owner’s real estate department rather than at a GC’s procurement desk.

The numbers

Permit 2026057451 carries a $31,471,996 valuation, 434,424 sq ft, six floors, an application type of “New” and a commercial property classification. The permit total fee is $48,029, the process number is M2026017840, and the folio is 3530320000121 at 10155 NW 12th St. The county’s raw record describes the work as “PARKING GARAGE” under a proposed use of “PAVING/OPEN LOTS.”

The owner of record is Doral K LLC, a Lithia real estate entity. The Property Appraiser lists its mailing address as 150 N Bartlett St in Medford, Oregon, the same address SEC EDGAR carries for Lithia Motors Inc. Doral K LLC acquired the permit parcel, 348,469 sq ft, and the adjacent 3.01-acre parcel on June 27, 2022 from a Lehman Dealership Enterprises affiliate. The last public coverage of this campus was The Real Deal’s July 21, 2022 report on that acquisition, roughly 14 acres for $33.3M, housing Doral Hyundai, Doral Genesis and Doral Kia.

What’s next

The record leaves real gaps, and we are not filling them. There is no architect of record, the file reads “NOT LISTED.” There is no stated intended use for the garage, no space count in the permit, and no completion date. What is documented is an issued permit and a start clock. More Miami-Dade permit-wire coverage runs on our South Florida hub.