The Woodlands has seen an influx of car dealerships in recent years, and area officials are attributing the increase to the growth of career jobs in the area.

Volkswagen of the Woodlands has been open since December 2012, a new location for Mini of The Woodlands has been announced and Mercedes-Benz of The Woodlands is projected to open February 2015.

Ferrari of Houston has also announced it will open a showroom in the Waterway Square district of Town Center.

"When you bring major employers, like we've been so successful in securing lately over the last several years, you bring professional jobs to the market, you bring new households, you bring such a synergy that creates opportunities for automobile dealerships," said Gil Staley, CEO of The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership. "So ultimately it's the trickle-down effect from bringing primary jobs to the market."

The demographics for The Woodlands area include a median age of 36.9 years, and an average household income of $118,900, according to the Economic Development Partnership's website. Staley said the area also has a well-educated population. Staley worked with Joe Agresti, the owner of the upcoming Mercedes-Benz dealership, during the start of the process to bring the facility to The Woodlands.

"With [Agresti's] research, he found that this market was a great niche market for his type of dealership, that being Mercedes, and I agree," Staley said.

Lance Willis, general manager of Volkswagen of The Woodlands, said the dealership's owner, Darryl Wischnewsky, chose The Woodlands. Volkswagen originally wanted the dealership to be in Conroe.

"[Wischnewsky] just felt strongly that for the kind of first-class facility he wanted, that this Woodlands facility was going to be a much better location," Willis said.

In its first year of business in that spot, Volkswagen of The Woodlands ranked No. 1 in Texas in sales for the company.

"I don't think you can have a much more positive reception than that," Willis said.

Agresti also owns Mercedes-Benz of Baton Rouge in Louisiana.

"My family and I, including my brother and parents, have moved here," Agresti said. "The Woodlands is our home, and we intend to treat our customers like neighbors because, in fact, they are."

Alex Sutton, co-president of The Woodlands Development Company, said the brands that are coming to town make sense.

"You drive around The Woodlands, you see a lot of people driving those brands," Sutton said. "We're glad to have them in The Woodlands. Overall, it's good for the region for those kinds of brands to be here."

The Woodlands features a wide range of consumers who could be in the market to go car shopping for anything from a family car made by Volkswagen to a Ferrari, Staley said.

"A well-educated, affluent group in some sectors of our community can afford those luxury automobiles like that," Staley said. "Then we have that same market with families looking for a more economical purchase for their household and they look at other automobile groups for their needs."

The large lots and bright lights of many car dealerships is a new look for The Woodlands.

"These [businesses] are new entries into The Woodlands area," Staley said. "We've not had automobile dealers with a strong presence here."

That means the car dealershipsmoving in have a greater share of the market than they would in other areas ofHouston that already feature several dealerships. Most of the dealerships, including Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, have chosen the location at the intersection of I-45 and Hwy. 242.

Staley attributed that to visibility, affordable land prices and access to major roadways.

"That's the busiest intersection in the entire [county]," Staley said. "The traffic flow through there is huge, so that helps them tremendously."

Willis said he believes having multiple dealerships next to each other will benefit all of them and the community.

In addition, Costco has also announced that a new store will be going into the same area as the dealerships. Once complete, the new store will bring additional visibility to the dealerships, Staley said.

The Economic Development Partnership did not actively seek out the dealerships. Instead, Staley said, the dealerships have done their research.

"Our community is becoming, or has become, over the years, one of a presence that fits basically across the realm of dealerships from affordable to luxury cars," Staley said. "So they're going to do their [due] diligence and their research indicating that [The Woodlands] will be a good fit for them."

And Staley believes other similar dealerships will likely do the same. Sutton also said there is still property owned by the Development Company available north of Hwy. 242.

"[Other dealerships are] going to pay attention," Staley said. "That's just the way that the market works for them."