What does years-long grind, $80 million get Brandon Steven? His first LA dealership

Following much work — and an $80 million payment — Brandon Steven finally owns Honda of Downtown Los Angeles.

“It was a three-and-a-half-year grind,” he said of acquiring the dealership, which is his first Honda franchise out of a dozen other franchises he owns with his brother, Rodney Steven II.

“Doing business in LA is quite a bit more difficult than doing business in the Midwest,” Brandon Steven said.

He made the Honda offer after completing his first out-of-market dealership acquisition in early summer of 2016 with his purchase of a Lee’s Summit, Mo., Mazda dealership.

“I was interested in markets outside of Wichita.”

He already has a large share of the Wichita market.

Steven said he also wanted to go to a bigger market, but the Honda acquisition was a challenge for a few reasons.

One is that the seller had been leasing a space across from the Staples Center, and the five-year lease delayed the process.

Steven wanted to build a new building, but he had to get the property rezoned first.

“It was a lot of work to get it from the ground up.”

It also was a different sort of build for him.

“In Wichita you build left to right,” he said. “You build on the ground.”

Land is at a premium in Los Angeles, though.

While Steven’s Chevrolet-Cadillac dealership is on almost 13 acres in Wichita, his new Honda dealership is on one acre.

“So we had to go up.”

The six-story building is across from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Steven spends a couple of days a week in Los Angeles running the new dealership, slowly integrating his processes and also looking for his next deal.

“We definitely want to stay in the LA market.”

With economies of scale, Steven said, “The more business you do in the market, the more business you can do in the market.”

It’s the same approach Rodney Steven has taken with his and Brandon Steven’s Genesis Health Clubs.

“He’s pretty centralized right now in the Midwest,” Brandon Steven said.

Genesis recently added seven more gyms for a total of 57 clubs across six states in the Midwest.

“His growth is incredible,” Brandon Steven said of his brother.

He said there are no current plans to take Genesis to Los Angeles, even though that’s where he wants to expand his dealerships.

Though his automotive growth in Wichita is what’s forced Steven to look outside the market, it’s also what is allowing him to go elsewhere, he said.

“Wichita’s given my team and I so much stability. Through the ups and downs, the Wichita market has been very stable and very good.”

Steven said when he transplants some of what he calls the Midwest’s core values, along with some, “Yes, ma’ams,” and “Yes, sirs,” he said Californians notice and appreciate it.

“They get a little bit blown away. Like, ‘Wow.’ . . . It’s a little bit like a culture shock.”

Steven said he believes the Honda dealership could become the No. 1 Honda dealership in the country.

“It’s got growth potential like I’ve never seen before.”

He said he’s pumped about it.

“I’m never a guy who’s looked where he’s gone,” Steven said. “I’m excited and fired up . . . about where I’m going.”

This story was originally published August 3, 2020 at 2:33 PM.