A long road trip

Developer Wayne Ruben beams at a $262,000 Bentley prominently featured in Dimmitt Automotive Group's new downtown Sarasota showroom, a gallery-like space where the gun metal-colored flooring is overshadowed by the artwork on the walls and on four wheels.

“Isn't this something?” he says of the Bentley, one of more than a dozen luxury cars from brands like McLaren, Rolls Royce and Lamborghini that fill the 7,000-square-foot showroom.
Today, Ruben is basking in the success of a deal that has brought one of the most talked-about and unorthodox tenants in years to downtown Sarasota, to space he bought from the city for $1.77 million on the ground floor of a new parking garage.

But landing Dimmitt was no joy ride.