One of downtown Nashville’s most visible properties, the former site of Hippodrome Nissan at 12th Avenue North and Broadway, is getting a $1 million facelift and will become the new home of a Mazda dealership.

“It’s like having a facility at Main (Street) and Main,” managing partner Chad Custer says of the high-profile location, 1212 Broadway on the west side of downtown.

The dealership, Nelson Mazda, expects to complete its move from the Hickory Hollow Mall area in Antioch and open its new downtown location by July. Meanwhile, Hardcastle Construction Co. has been hired to renovate the site.

“It’ll be Mazda’s signature building,” Custer says.

The move will bring 35 or 40 workers downtown. The Hickory Hollow location may become a dealership for another automobile brand, he says.

Nelson Mazda is headed by Robert Nelson of Tulsa, Okla. The company operates three Mazda dealerships in Oklahoma and Nashville, as well as a Nissan dealership in Oklahoma.

The dealership has a lease-purchase agreement with Broadway Partners, which bought the property for more than $4 million. Broadway Partners includes Earl “Rusty” Dunn Jr., who developed dealerships with his father, Earl Dunn. The partnership has no affiliation with Nelson Mazda, Custer says.

Hippodrome Nissan changed its name to Downtown Nashville Nissan and moved to 25 Vantage Way, near Interstate 65 in Nashville, joining Crest Honda and Crest Cadillac in the MetroCenter area.

Mazda appeals to young buyers, so moving to a location near Vanderbilt, Lipscomb, Belmont and Tennessee State universities should be a plus for Nelson Mazda, Custer says. In addition, moving downtown should increase visibility and attract customers who are not willing to drive to Hickory Hollow.

“We need to be accessible. People will drive to the (city) center but won’t necessarily drive out,” he adds.