It’s truly the end of a magnificent era in the history of the City of Falls Church. After 51 years, the Falls Church-based Beyer family’s automobile business, begun by Col. Donald S. Beyer, Sr., in 1973, and carried on by his two sons, Michael and current U.S. Rep. Donald Jr., has been sold. All six dealerships around the region were sold in a two-part deal completed Oct. 10 by Mike, who had bought out Don Jr.’s share in 2019, to an entity known as Open Road Capital.
Mike Beyer sold the dealership group’s eight stores in two separate transactions in a span of six weeks, according to Haig Partners, which served as Beyer’s advisor in the sales. The deal was first reported in the Auto Remarketing website.
The group’s five dealership locations in the Northern Virginia area — Land Rover Alexandria, Beyer Volvo Cars of Dulles, Beyer Volvo Cars of Falls Church, Beyer Kia Falls Church and Beyer Subaru — along with Smokey’s Garage in Falls Church, Va., were acquired by Open Road Capital on Oct. 10.
In the first stage, on Aug. 30, Jim Keffer and Jon Alcorn purchased Beyer Volvo Cars of Winchester, Beyer Mazda and Beyer Volkswagen, located in Winchester, Va.
Beyer Automotive Group was founded in 1973 by Falls Church businessman Don Beyer, Sr., who sold the business to his sons, Don Jr. and Mike, in 1986. In 2019, Mike Beyer acquired his brother’s interest in the dealerships to become the sole owner. The group retailed more than 7,000 vehicles and generated some $400 million in revenue annually.
But it appears this will not be the end to Beyer family business dealings in Falls Church, because both Don Jr. and Mike still share ownership of the land in the City’s west end where the dealership here was located, and that land is come of the most lucrative real estate in the wider region, given that it is now located directly across Route 7 (West Broad) from the massive 10-acre West End project which is being linked to a wider intensive mixed use development ranging from Rt. 7 to the West Falls Church Metro station.
In fact, next spring the D.C.-based Urban Land Institute has agreed to convene a special onsite consultation on the best potential use of the six-acre Beyer tract that the family spent years assembling by acquiring smaller parcels there. The Beyer six acres could be combined with five acres owned by the City as the site of its property yard right there to hold the promise of an 11-acre tract, even bigger than the 10 acres now growing up across the street.
It was the Urban Land Institute’s participation in mulling best use options for the 10 acres across the street that led to that site, where the old George Mason High School was once located, to become a revenue-generating bonanza for Falls Church.
The original Don Beyer Volvo dealership in Falls Church was founded by Col. Donald S. Beyer Sr. and his wife Nancy McDonald. His grandmother Clara Mortenson Beyer was a pioneer in labor economics and workers’ rights, and worked in the U.S. Department of Labor under FDR’s labor secretary Francis Perkins during the New Deal era. Beyer Sr. was a U.S. Army officer and the oldest of six children. Don Beyer Sr. and Nancy lived in Falls Church, as did both of their boys, when the original dealership was begun in 1973.
When Don Jr. and Mike took over the dealership from their parents in 1986, Don Jr. became president of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, and in 1989 commenced a dark horse campaign for lieutenant governor of Virginia, which he won along with second term four years later. He was touted by the News-Press as Falls Church’s “Favorite Son.”
He lost a bid for governor in 1997 and took on key roles as a national Democratic Party operative, organizing a major rally for then presidential candidate Howard Dean in Falls Church’s Cherry Hill Park in 2004. He was among the earliest out-front supporters of Barack Obama for president in 2007. He was appointed U.S. ambassador to Switzerland by President Obama and then elected to his first of now six terms to the U.S. Congress from the 8th District of Virginia in 2015.
In 1986, he and his brother Michael bought the auto dealership business from their parents and as the Beyer Automotive Group, and the business expanded to nine dealerships, including the Volvo, Land Rover, Kia, Volkswagen, Mazda, and Subaru brands before selling his share of the dealerships to his brother in 2019. Beyer is a past chairman of the National Volvo Retailer Advisory Board. In 2006, he chaired the American International Automobile Dealers Association.
Mike Beyer was quoted last week by Auto Remarketing staff saying, “It has been an amazing experience working with family and friends for so many years. I am extremely proud of the legacy Beyer Automotive Group has created. The decision to sell was difficult, but I was ready to move on to other interests and spend more time with my family.”
Open Road Capital, backed by private equity firm Bain Capital, now owns 43 dealerships nationwide. “We would like to thank Mike Beyer for trusting Open Road Capital to continue the legacy his family has built for over 50 years in Northern Virginia,” co-founder and managing director Eric Chelline said. “We look forward to serving their many loyal customers.”