An unresolved family squabble in Fresno opened the door for a Seattle-area businessman to add to his portfolio of luxury car dealerships by buying the former Weber BMW dealership.

Al Monjazeb, who owns Bentley, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Jaguar and Land Rover dealerships in Bellevue, Wash., closed his purchase of Weber BMW in late February from former owners Yrma Rico and Jerry Pajouh. The dealership is now known as BMW Fresno. Sudhir Sood, who formerly served as the general manager of BMW of Valencia in Southern California, is the new general manager at BMW of Fresno.

The dealership had operated under the Weber name for more than 40 years, both at its original location on Abby Street in downtown Fresno and, since 2001, at the Palm Bluff Corporate Center on Palm Avenue, north of Herndon Avenue. Rico and Pajouh, her son-in-law, bought the dealership from Ben Weber in 2000. Rico held the title of president, and Pajouh was the general manager of the business.

Rico said she and Monjazeb had been in talks about a possible sale for about 18 months, "but the holdup was, we were in the middle of a family feud" in which the minority owners did not want to sell the real estate. That feud landed in court when Pajouh sued his mother-in-law, Weber Motors Inc. and Palm Bluff Investments LLC in November 2010. Rico filed a countersuit in April 2012.

Mediation in the court case eventually led to a decision to sell the company -- lock, stock and barrel -- to a third party, "for everyone to make a clean break," Rico said Tuesday.

According to Fresno County Superior Court records, an auction of Weber BMW shares was held on Dec. 21, with the buyer to be approved by BMW within 60 days.

The price paid by Monjazeb for the dealership was not disclosed but, Rico said, "it was a very good deal."

Fresno County property tax records indicate that between the land and the buildings, the three parcels occupied by the BMW dealership have an assessed value of about $11.1 million -- a valuation reduced from about $12.5 million under a law that provided tax relief for property that had lost value.

One of the buildings on the property -- a 33,000-square-foot showroom built in 2008 to house Weber BMW's certified pre-owned inventory -- has been vacant for several months. A sign on the doors refers potential used-car customers to visit the new-car store next door. Monjazeb could not be reached to comment on his plans for the Fresno dealership, including the fate of the vacant used-car building.

Rico said she had bittersweet feelings about parting ways with the BMW dealership. "On one hand, I'm ready to move on, but on the other I still worry about the staff," she said. "Obviously the new regime is going to make some changes. It was a family dealership. Now it is a corporation that has other dealerships." But, she added that she believes the new ownership will "try to keep as much of the staff as they can."