The longtime home of Lee Beaman's auto dealership empire is now empty of vehicles, clearing the way for redevelopment of the Broadway site.

South Carolina-based Hudson Automotive Group — which purchased Beaman Automotive Group in 2020 — moved all operations off the Midtown land. The business has poured millions into the new Nashville dealership locations.

Here's what you should know about the new dealership locations and what's next for the Broadway site.

Why did Beaman Toyota move 500 cars in one weekend?

The Hudson Automotive Group knew the dealership would need to move out of the Broadway site when the deal to purchase the business was finalized in July 2020, CEO David Hudson said. Lee Beaman at that time sold the dealership, but not the associated real estate.

Hudson Automotive Group decided to make the move over one weekend in order to maintain normal business hours for both sales and service customers.

"We have to be open at all of our normal business hours for our customers," Hudson said. "We didn't want to miss a day of business."

The move took four vans and 32 staff members to complete. Employees moved the cars without the help of car haulers. Three months of planning went into the logistics of the two-day move, said Beaman Toyota Director of Sales Bo Bowling.

"I was pleased," Bowling said. "I really was. I couldn't imagine it going much better than it did."

The locations were fully open and operational Monday morning.

Where are the new dealerships?

Beaman Toyota moved about 9 miles south to 343 Harding Place, while Beaman Buick-GMC moved to 5300 Mt. View Road in the Antioch area. Both of the new locations have more space and capacity for inventory. Service capacity is also doubling.

The collision center’s new home is an existing Beaman parts warehouse at 620 Crutcher St. in downtown Nashville.

The new locations represent an $82 million investment by Hudson in the Nashville area. Hudson said he views the move as the obvious next step for the evolution of the dealership.

"Given all the growth in that area of Nashville, it was going to be impossible for us to expand to meet the demands of our customers [at the former location]," Hudson said. "We went looking for a spot that would be easily accessible. We're very excited about it and we think it will be a great long-term move for us."

What's being built at the Broadway site?

Brentwood-based GBT Realty paid $110 million for the former site of Beaman Toyota in December 2021. The firm announced at that time it would plan a major development on the land.

New York-based Monarch Alternative Capital is the partner for the redevelopment project. Details about the number of buildings and future uses of the land have not been announced by the development firms.

One22one, a Class AA office development recently completed by GBT Realty, is located nearby at 1221 Broadway.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Beaman dealerships move 500 cars out of downtown to new locations