Former Ford dealership site sold to longtime local businessman

MONROE ­— The former Monroe Ford dealership site on Route 17M in Monroe has been sold to Mike Hagopian, owner of Apple Auto and Loyal Auto and Towing, who will move his businesses into new 40,000-square-foot quarters in January.

Hagopian has been operating his companies on other sites within Monroe and Harriman for more than 35 years.

He will now consolidate all his operations on the 11.2-acre site which will be used as an auto repair and service, auto body, towing and rental business and include two impound lots.

The commercial property has been vacant for five years.

Hagopian said he wanted this site for his business and had been negotiating with the bank over the years. Then the economy slowed down and the sale wasn’t 100 percent.

This time, it worked out - the timing was right, he said.

The purchase means double the present number of employees to 60.

No junk cars
Will this be a site strewn with junk cars?

Absolutely not, said Hagopian. “It will look like a mall,” he said, that will include a chain-type coffee shop, a major car rental agency and customer shuttle service.

He described the towing and auto repair to be in an enclosed car port area - where cars pull in to an enclosed area.

“Nobody will be offended by my business,” he said, “It will be fenced in the back of the site and appealing to neighboring sites.

“Used cars will utilize the left half of the front parking lot. And, definitely no junk,” he said, “ It will be an upscale parking lot.”

Hagopian said he hasn’t decided what he will do with the remainder of the lot.

Part of Monroe Ford’s original 37 acres was deemed wetlands and donated to the Village of Monroe.

Part of local economy since 1978

The entrepreneur moved to this area in 1978 and purchased and operated the Mobil Station at the corner of Route 17M and 17 and now leases the property.

He moved his towing and rental business to the Goodyear building on Route 17M in Harriman in 1989.

He bought property on Elm St. in Monroe in 1983 for his auto body shop.

In 1986, he purchased the Dugan Bakery building behind the Gulf Station on Freeland St. in Monroe.

Another Route 17M property owned by Hagopian is a huge complex, Gold’s Gym in the Village of Harriman.

Commenting on the future of his business, Hagopian said: “We are here to serve the county for the next 35 years.”

Cushman and Wakefield Pyramid Brokerage Company’s sales agent John Coladonato, with SRS Real Estate Partners of New York City said he feels great that a longtime Hagopian, his wife and five children have stepped up and purchased this site.

By Claudia Wysocki