Tesla Motors opens doors to Menlo Park showroom

When Tesla Motors officially opened to the public Tuesday, Menlo Park not only gained a new sales tax source but also a possible spark in the business revival effort for the southern stretch of El Camino Real.

With the sale of each energy-efficient but expensive electric Roadster, the city stands to earn more than $1,000. That soon will add up, considering that Tesla has a waiting list of more than 1,100 customers and expects to produce and sell about 20 cars per month. And that's sales tax that won't be going to San Carlos, the company's U.S. headquarters.

Tesla general manager Tom O'Leary said the company has shifted its sales operation from San Carlos to Menlo Park. It has also opened showrooms this year in Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and New York.

"As of Tuesday, the point of sale is in Menlo Park, and the sales tax will go to Menlo Park," said David Johnson, the city's business development director.

The car has a base price of $109,000 and, for each one sold, the city will get about 1 percent of the sales tax after the state gobbles up its share.

Tesla's showroom at 300 El Camino Real also will boost property tax revenues and has already sparked an interest from other companies looking at adjacent and nearby vacant buildings, City Manager Glen Rojas said.

The southern end of El Camino Real was once home to several auto dealerships, but they slowly left to find less-constrained locations with better visibility.

Tesla

is the first business to set up shop there since the dealerships' exodus. Tesla has signed a five-year lease with Stanford University, which owns all of the land between the Stanford Park Hotel to the south and the Menlo Station shopping center to the north.

E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.