"I'd like to put a vertical dealership in there," Ciccolo tells GlobeSt.com after paying $4.5 million for the 75,000-sf building. Having housed a diesel truck emporium back in the 1950s and 1960s, the five-story building would be suitable for such a use, maintains Ciccolo, who says he hopes to garner neighborhood support for the concept. Not only is the structure able to accept the load, says Ciccolo, there remain elements such as an oversized freight elevator to accommodate the vehicles. "It's all ready to go," says Ciccolo, explaining he would also like to incorporate the building into the existing dealership complex next door. A model of car that would be traded has not been determined, he says.

North Beacon Street has undergone substantial changes during his tenure, Ciccolo acknowledges, perhaps most dramatically being a multibuilding office complex that houses New Balance's new headquarters. A shopping plaza was carved out of a former steel plant behind the dealership, and Loew's is now lobbying to convert a nearby electronics manufacturing facility into one of the chain's large home improvement centers. "The whole street has been completely transformed," says Ciccolo. "It used to be a mess, but things are a lot better now." Earlier this month, public broadcasting's flagship station, WGBH, opened its new corporate headquarters a few blocks from Boston Volvo Village.

Interestingly, Ciccolo says he was approached and introduced with the prospect of buying 61 North Beacon St. by the sellers, an overture which occurred after the previous ownership had sought and gained approvals to add three stories and create a residential use for the building. No explanation was given for the reversal, says Ciccolo, who says he welcomed the advances. "Its not every day you can take control of your abutting property," he says.