New City Nissan, the leading Nissan car dealership in the state, couldn't have worse timing for its move into a new $35 million facility.

The dealership last week moved to 2299 North King St. in Kalihi, leaving its 14-year home at a cramped space at 900 Ala Moana. The new facility sits on 6 acres of land and has about 50,000 square feet of showroom, offices and service area. Its old facility sat on about 1.8 acres of leased land and needed to store cars at a second location.

But the move comes at a time when Hawai'i's new-car business, like the rest of the economy, is having a difficult time. Forecasts call for new-car sales statewide to tumble 9.7 percent this year as people pull back on large purchases and devote larger portions of their household budgets to everyday gasoline and grocery purchases.

New City Nissan's John Uekawa acknowledged the poor timing for the move to a multimillion-dollar facility, but said the dealership had no way of knowing 15 months ago when the project began that Hawai'i's economy would sink the way it has. Moreover, there are a host of reasons he and New City Chief Executive Officer Frank Kudo felt they should move.

That includes only being able to get one-year leases on their former property and worries about redevelopment in Kaka'ako pushing lease rents higher. Earlier this year, Pfleuger Honda moved from its longtime showroom on Ala Moana near New City Nissan to its own showroom in Downtown Honolulu. The new site near Middle Street also has easier access from freeway exits than the old one did.

"We feel this is for the long-term and we'll weather the storm," Uekawa said. "We're confident we can."

New City is one of three Nissan dealerships on O'ahu and is the top-volume dealer among Nissan North America's northwest region, an area that also includes Northern California, Utah, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska.

David Frick, Nissan North America dealer operations manager for Hawai'i and Alaska, said these are risky times to be sinking a huge investment into a new facility. But he noted New City may have a shot at increasing sales with more inventory on the same property and nearly doubling the number of service bays to 30.

New City Nissan typically maintains an inventory of 475 to 600 cars and between 80 and 100 used cars.

"We have high expectations for that store, property, building, site," Frick said. "People make the store. But having that property is going to enhance the experience.

"It's the right move for the dealership, long-term."

Uekawa said the first two days of sales at the new site last week were good and that the dealership is hopeful that it can achieve a boost in sales compared to its old address. He said dealerships typically expect a 20 percent increase in volume when they get new facilities.

"We'll bring the traffic to us," Uekawa said.

"People will come to good places and if you have a good reputation they will follow."