My hyperbole aside, that is what I figured had happened. That said, it's a big lot, and in this day and age I don't see how they couldn't have done the auto shop out the back and actually done housing on top. I don't see that as a barrier to entry at all. In fact, I think they could have even fit a bit of retail on Washington st at ground level, too, and still kept the capacity of the new garage building. Just seems a waste of a pretty prime corner lot on Washington St in front of Metro Ave.
Auto shops are pretty noisy. With some decent sound proofing you could mitigate that part at least.