With a speakeasy and an atelier, a Rolls-Royce dealership is in review for East Arlington.
With the dealership franchise award confirmed in November, the city now is reviewing a permit application for Fields Auto Group to build-out the luxury auto center to replace its Jaguar location.
International Contractors Inc. of Illinois is listed as the contractor for the estimated $750,000 project to renovate the 5,159-square-foot space for the Rolls-Royce brand, whose prices of new models start at $400,000.
Plans indicate the dealership will include a speakeasy bar and an atelier design studio for client customization of their cars, including the scent match. The dealership outline shows space for three Rolls-Royce models on the showroom floor.
NV5 of Jacksonville is providing private plan review. R. Wulbern Architect of Jacksonville is the architect.
Plans call for an interior renovation to modify the Jaguar dealership to Rolls-Royce.
Fields Auto Group confirmed in November that it intended to start operating the dealership at its Land Rover of Jacksonville location at 11217 Atlantic Blvd., where Fields ended its sales last year of British carmaker Jaguar.
It had been Jaguar Land Rover Jacksonville. Land Rover will continue to operate there, joined by Rolls-Royce.
“I can confirm that a Rolls Royce franchise has been awarded to the Fields Auto Group at the Land Rover of Jacksonville location,” said Fields Auto Group Vice President Brian Zehren in an email Nov. 19.
He said at the time that since the plans still needed final approval, he did not have a firm timeline on when the project would be completed.
“We do feel confident that it will open in 2026,” he said.
Fields Auto Group’s Orlando-based Fields PAG Inc. registered Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Jacksonville with the state Oct. 7.
Zehren said the two separate dealerships will operate under separate names: Roll-Royce of Jacksonville and Land Rover Jacksonville.
The Land Rover site is about 1.5 miles east of Interstate 295 and 3 miles west of Queen’s Harbour Yacht & Country Club.
Fields Auto Group is led by President John Fields, Vice President Daniel Fields, Secretary Shermin Pelinksi, Treasurer Lori Taylor, Vice President Ryan Fields and Zehren.
Fields Auto Group’s website FieldsAuto.com shows it has two Rolls-Royce dealerships in Orlando and Chicago.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars says on its website that it “manufactures and sells the world’s pinnacle super-luxury automobiles, including the Phantom, Ghost, Wraith, Dawn and Cullinan models.”
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Germany-based BMW Group.
Its headquarters and production facilities are in Goodwood, England.
As an example of pricing, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars of Miami lists 2026 Cullinan models from $474,250 to $645,760.
Of the 38 Rolls-Royce showrooms in the U.S., the seven dealerships nearest Jacksonville are 130 miles away in Orlando and then, by distance, Tampa Bay, West Palm Beach, Naples, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and Miami.
Fields Auto Group
Fields Auto Group, based in Northfield, Illinois, north of Chicago, is led by CEO Dan Fields.
Its 34 dealerships carry 19 brands. Its site shows dealerships in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.
In Northeast Florida, Fields Auto Group owns Fields Cadillac Jacksonville and Fields Cadillac St. Augustine; a collision center; Mercedes-Benz Vans in Jacksonville; Land Rover Jacksonville; Lexus of Jacksonville and Lexus of Orange Park; Mercedes-Benz Orange Park and Mercedes-Benz Jacksonville; and Porsche Jacksonville.
It has been developing service centers for Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in World Commerce Center in St. Augustine.
In April, Fields Auto Group said it returned its Jaguar dealership franchise along Atlantic Boulevard but would continue as an authorized repair facility for the British brand of luxury vehicles.
The Jaguar operation operated side by side with Fields’ Land Rover Jacksonville.
“We informed Jaguar that we would no longer want to continue selling new Jaguars,” Zehren said, explaining that meant returning the new Jaguars to the manufacturer for it to distribute to its remaining dealer body in the U.S.
In general, returning or surrendering an auto brand franchise means the franchisee dealer is relinquishing its rights to sell that brand’s vehicles at a particular location.
Zehren said its dealer license is unaffected since Jaguar and Land Rover are the same company.
Jaguar is part of the Jaguar Land Rover group, a British multinational car manufacturer. Its North American headquarters is in Mahwah, New Jersey, north of New York City.
Zehren said buyers who have purchased a new or used Jaguar “can expect the same great service they have come to expect from Jaguar of Jacksonville.”
Zehren said April 14 that Fields “decided to return the franchise prior to any tariff discussion, so the timing of this is unrelated to the current economic situation.”
Along Atlantic Boulevard
Fields Auto Group bought the Jaguar Land Rover Jacksonville dealership from the Matheny family in 2014.
Fields PAG Inc. won city approval in August 2018 to build a new Jaguar Land Rover Jacksonville dealership. The 34,293-square-foot dealership with another 2,700 square feet of unenclosed space was built on 6.72 acres.
The project relocated the Jaguar Land Rover dealership from next door.
Fields PAG Inc. owns the 12.1-acre property. The existing Jaguar Land Rover dealership was on the western portion of the site.
Fields Automotive Group Inc. demolished the former Jaguar Land Rover building and built a new facility for Fields-owned Porsche Jacksonville, which moved from another Atlantic Boulevard location.
Along Atlantic Boulevard, Fields Auto Group has Lexus of Jacksonville at 10259 Atlantic Blvd., Porsche Jacksonville at 11211 Atlantic Blvd., and Land Rover Jacksonville and the Jaguar authorized service, both at 11217 Atlantic Blvd.
Bentley
Rolls-Royce joins another luxury British car dealership in Jacksonville.
Miami-based Murgado Automotive Group Inc. opened a Bentley dealership in June 2020 at 7137 Bonneval Road – since renamed Bentley Road.
New model Bentleys start about $200,000.
Owner Mario Murgado said in August 2020 that he chose the site because of its strategic location at Butler Boulevard and Interstate 95.
Bentley says on its website that it serves drivers throughout Jacksonville and the surrounding area including Daytona, Fernandina Beach, Orlando, Palm Coast, Ponte Vedra, St. Augustine, Savannah and Tallahassee.
Murgado said he invested $20 million in the project, a two-story, 49,000-square-foot dealership on property he bought.