Smithfield DMV office plans summer opening

With its exterior largely finished and parking lot recently paved, Smithfield’s new Department of Motor Vehicles office is nearly complete.

“We are making great progress getting the Smithfield Customer Service Center ready to serve the community and are looking forward to being open for business this summer,” said DMV spokeswoman Jillian Cowherd.

She said a specific opening date has not been set.

The new 4,800-square-foot DMV is located on South Church Street between Dollar General and True Value Hardware.

Smithfield’s old DMV building, which now houses Office Express Plus, shuttered in 2020 along with every other DMV in the state during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it stayed closed even when others reopened in 2021 – according to the DMV, due to its small lobby and lack of a public restroom.

The new center broke ground last April. Warren Sachs, whose KLS Battery Park Development Group LLC owns the land, will lease the building to the DMV under a 10-year contract.

Sachs plans to build a 7,200-square-foot shopping center adjacent to the DMV on the 3.8-acre parcel. Smithfield’s Planning Commission approved illustrations in September showing the shopping center in a brick facade similar to that of the DMV.

The shopping center has yet to break ground. It will be designed to house up to four businesses. Sachs has yet to name his tenants, but the original plans called for a restaurant flanked by retailers on each end.