The owner of a relatively new livery business called Premier Luxury Transportation has applied for a special use permit in order to store his small fleet of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans in a warehouse space behind what will be the company’s business office at 8939 Ogden Ave. in Brookfield.
Jeremy Camacho, who has been operating the business out his Lyons home since last summer, will have his application considered at a public hearing in front of the Brookfield Planning and Zoning Commission on Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. in the council chamber of the Brookfield Village Hall, 8820 Brookfield Ave.
While there are plenty of automobile service and sales businesses along Ogden Avenue, some of whom store vehicles indoors, the village’s code does not allow the warehousing of vehicles by right in the C-1 commercial district.
Camacho told the Landmark he got into the transportation business as a driver during the COVID-19 pandemic, when other businesses like restaurants were shut down completely.
For the past seven years, Camacho has owned the Mexican restaurant Salsa Picante on the western edge of the Ukrainian Village neighborhood in Chicago.
“My brother works for a transportation company, and they needed help,” said Camacho. “I started working for them during COVID due to the restaurant being closed. I had to make ends meet, so I drove for them two or three years.”
More recently Camacho had contemplated opening his own business and learned about the Ogden Avenue property because he drove past it every day taking his kids to school.
The unassuming, yellow brick one-story building at one time was part a car dealership, Brookfield AMC/Jeep, which also included the property immediately to the east at 8929 Ogden Ave. That building now houses Central Auto Rebuilders.
In the past two years, the property’s owner has made improvements to the building at 8939 Ogden Ave., including resurfacing and restriping the parking lot and remodeling the interior office area, which Premier Luxury Transportation will use as its headquarters.
According to Camacho, he has four 14-person Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans in his fleet, something he’d like to grow to 10 in time. Because businesses like his are federally regulated, Camacho said he needs a location where federal officials can come to perform safety checks on his vehicles and where he can store them when his drivers are off.
His plan is to store his four vehicles in the rear warehouse area behind the office at 8939 Ogden Ave. He will also have access to five of the nine surface parking spaces along the building’s east wall as his fleet expands. The other four exterior spots will be reserved for Central Auto Rebuilders. The properties share the same owner.
Members of the public wishing to provide comment on the special use application can do so in person at the Jan. 26 public hearing or in writing by submitting a letter to Village Planner Kate Portillo prior to the hearing.
