Unique Homes Magazine

Unique Personalities

 

January 2008

 

DRIVING LUXURY – CHESROWN HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES

 

Kanye West isn't the only college dropout capable of producing a string of hits. Marshall Chesrown, a saxophone player who turned his back on a scholarship to become a car salesman, has managed to create his own sweet music in the worlds of business and real estate.

 

Chesrown parlayed his start as a salesman into becoming the youngest Toyota dealer in the nation and eventually created the Chesrown Automotive Group, which consisted of 11 companies. In 1997, he sold his dealerships to Wayne Huizinga’s Republic Industries, now known as AutoNation, the world’s largest automotive retailer.

 

With time and money on his hands, Chesrown returned to his native Spokane, Wash., and bought 650 acres around neighboring LakeCoeur d'Alene in Idaho, where he spent time during his youth. He planned to build a ranch, but when friends saw the land, they had another idea - a golf course.

 

"I don’t golf," Chesrown said. "But everyone that looked at the place thought it would be great. I looked at the high-end private clubs, and it was something they didn't have in this market."

 

 

The result was The Club at Black Rock, a residential golf community that opened in 2003.

 

 

"We're a second-home community, not a vacation-home community," Chesrown said. "I think that's a big difference between us and some other areas. Golfers are pretty social people. There's a difference between the point of being exclusive and the point of being empty."

 

Chesrown's company, Black Rock Development, of which he is the CEO and sole owner, is working on six other projects, including Kendall Yards — a mixed residential and retail development along the SpokaneRiver in downtown Spokane.

 

"The fundamentals of business are the same whether you're flipping burgers, selling cars or selling real estate," Chesrown said. "It's about taking care of your customers and positioning your product in a way that's different than the competition."