On 11th Avenue, an Auto Boomtown

And Wi-Fi will be available, next to a pastry and coffee bar, when a new Mercedes-Benz dealership opens a short walk down 11th Avenue, at West 54th Street, early next month.

Between the BMW and Mercedes stores, an existing dealership has been renovated for Volkswagen and Audi. Showrooms for each brand showcase the latest trends in architectural design.

So when Peter Miles, executive vice president for operations at BMW of North America, presented his ideas for a 21st century dealership at a press conference last week, he could have been referring to any of several showrooms and service centers that have appeared along Manhattan’s new Automobile Row.

“Our innovations and the growth of our business over the next decade are of key importance to us,” Mr. Miles said. “And New York City is a center of mobility, technology and innovation just as much as media and finance.”

Along 11th Avenue, foreign and domestic automakers are expanding, relocating and renovating top-dollar properties, even as the economy remains fickle in much of the country.

The reason, auto executives and real estate brokers say, has less to do with current economic conditions and more to do with New York City’s identity as a global hub — the notion that if a company can make it here, it can make it anywhere.

Much of the recent real estate activity along 11th Avenue has blossomed from discussions dating back to the peak of the market — well before the closing of about 1,900 dealerships across the country since 2009, according to a tally by the National Automobile Dealers Association.

Manufacturers see the corridor as a grand stage for innovations, which, if successful, could one day appear in Albuquerque or Chattanooga.

“It’s important for them to get their newest image or brand out there,” said David McArdle, managing director of Cushman & Wakefield, who heads the firm’s auto practice group in New York. “All the dealers know this is the place to be.”

Besides BMW of North America, which last week announced plans for an environmentally friendly refurbishing of its showroom at 555 West 57th Street and construction of a stand-alone Mini dealership nearby, others are looking to the future.

Infiniti of Manhattan is expected to relocate from 608 West 57th Street, and Chrysler wants to expand nearby. Volkswagen and Audi reached a $125 million deal for their new joint operation on 55th Street two years ago.

Mercedes-Benz intends to open its glass-walled 333,000-square-foot dealership at 770 11th Avenue in May. The building has a repair shop with 72 service bays, visible from the customer lounge area through floor-to-ceiling windows.

Even in the age of technology, those service areas, experts say, make a difference.

“Even if dealerships weren’t selling units, the ability to service cars helps the parent company sell,” said Michael Laginestra, the vice president at CB Richard Ellis who, with his colleague Michael Geoghegan, worked with Mercedes-Benz to secure its new location.

But an entirely new facility is not a requirement for doing well. At the Manhattan Automobile Company, a Ford Motor-owned dealership at 787 11th Avenue, sales picked up last year after a slump in 2008. David Denby, a senior sales consultant, said that Land Rovers, which can cost more than $85,000, were their top seller since 2010.

“Right now, my business is as good as it was in 2007,” Mr. Denby said. “It’s just amazing. The economy hasn’t hurt us on 11th Avenue. It’s really a phenomenon here in New York City.”