We have a new home! The BMW Car Club of America has acquired a spacious business property, which will soon be the new home of the club and national office. The 20-acre site, with over 18,000-square-feet of existing office space, is just two miles east of BMW Plant Spartanburg and the BMW Performance Center on Highway 101 in Greer, South Carolina.
The acquisition puts the club right in the midst of all the growth and excitement surrounding the plant as the new expansion nears completion and the X7 heads to the production line. The BMW CCA’s new campus will not only serve as a new national business headquarters, but also a conference center, exhibition space, event venue, and retail outlet for club apparel and accessories—which couldn’t come at a better time, as the club embarks on its 50th anniversary in 2019.
Once renovations are completed by late 2019, the BMW CCA national headquarters will welcome club members who visit the factory and performance center. Members will have the chance to see rare items from club’s history, and shop at the official BMW CCA store. The plan is to have everything in place just in time for our 50th annual celebration: BMW CCA Oktoberfest, presented by Michelin in Greenville, South Carolina. O’Fest 2019 is set for October 15–19. During the event, the club will hold the official grand opening of the new campus with a Cars & Coffee event to mark the occasion.
“The board of directors are proud to have secured the next fifty years of the club with the purchase of our new club headquarters in Greer, South Carolina. We look forward to presenting it to the club at our 50th Oktoberfest in Greenville,” said Steve Johnson, BMW CCA president.
The move to Spartanburg will add another chapter to the club’s impressive 50-year-history, which all began in the Boston area when a group of enthusiastic 2002 owners formed an official organization. In fact, the club’s first national office was in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a small apartment just a short walk from Harvard Square. When BMW announced plans to open a new plant in South Carolina over 25 years ago, the club took notice, and in 2001, we relocated the national office from the Boston area to downtown Greenville, to be near the factory and the BMW Performance Center. This move turned out to be instrumental in the growth of the club and partnership with BMW of North America.
When BMW announced plans for a massive expansion of the plant, the club took notice again; and by now the club had outgrown its current 3,000-square-foot office space on South Main Street. With record years in every aspect from 2008 to the present, a growing national staff, and a newly-formed partnership with the BMW Motorcycle Owners Association, it was clear that a new headquarters was needed. The club’s national board, along with executive director Frank Patek, took the reins on the project and secured a new home that will serve the club well for many years to come. “We look forward to opening the doors of our new clubhouse to members in the very near future,” said Patek. “While our goal of a shared campus with the BMW Car Club of America Foundation fell short of the finish line, our new home is no more than two miles away. This puts the two entities that form the crux of the North American BMW Clubs community in our closest physical proximity ever. The immediacy of our location promises a future filled with collaborative events, sure to please members and BMW enthusiasts near and far.”
Further announcements will be made as the office makes its way to the new location. For now, it is business as usual in downtown Greenville, proudly serving the 70,000 enthusiastic and passionate members of the largest single-marque car club in the world.
About The BMW CCA
Founded in 1969, BMW CCA has grown to become the world’s largest owner supported single-marque car club. Today, BMW CCA has 68 chapters nationwide, with more than 70,000 dues paying members mutually enhancing one another’s BMW ownership experience.
Members of the Club are eligible for exclusive vehicle rebates, discounts on BMW parts and service,and admission to members-only events, and receive a copy of the Club’s 132-plus page magazine, Roundel, each month.
If you are as enthusiastic about driving your BMW as we are about ours, then this is your club. Join the Ultimate Driving Club today at bmwcca.org!
Tags: BMW Factory BMW Performance Center BMW Plant Spartanburg Club Headquarters National Office