Even Leigh Rzasa Ormes, the owner of Jeep 17 in Paramus, admits that it's an odd turn of events to have her business move onto the site of the old Forum Diner, a 40-year-old restaurant on Route 4.

More than two years ago, Ormes and her husband, Kevin, embarked on a reconnaissance mission in Paramus, looking for a site within the borough to relocate their booming dealership. They stopped for lunch at the Forum, where they overheard customers at the next table discussing the owner's desire to lease the restaurant.

From that day on, Ormes said, she and her husband befriended Steve and Angelo Yannitsadis, the owners of the diner property. Ormes worked with the brothers and Ted Laoudis, the owner of the diner itself, and eventually negotiated a 50-year lease agreement for the property.

The shift by Jeep to Route 4 from Route 17 will raise the dealership's profile, and Ormes says, double its traffic count to 120,000 vehicles a day. Jeep 17 has annual sales of $42 million, said Kevin Ormes.

The Forum Diner, which the Yannitsadis brothers built in 1967, shut its doors in the first week of April. By early 2008, it will be demolished to make way for Jeep 17's new dealership: a 25,000-square-foot building and "state-of-the-art service center," Ormes said.

Jeep 17 also purchased the diner's liquor license, which it intends to sell and transfer, Ormes said. The license came at a premium, but Ormes explained that as the only holders of a for-sale, full-consumption liquor license in Paramus, they are confidant their purchase will result in a profit. Ormes would not disclose how much she paid for it, but said the last such license put up for sale in Paramus fetched about $1 million. Several large restaurant chains have already contacted the company about the license, she said, without being specific.

Construction of the new Jeep building is expected to take seven months to complete. It will feature valet parking, a Wi-Fi-enabled customer lounge with a big-screen TV and complimentary shuttle service to shopping centers in Paramus. A projected appraisal of the new Route 4 facility by Chrysler put its value at just under $10 million, Ormes said.

A new car dealership will move into the Route 17 space once Jeep 17 relocates, though Ormes said she is not sure which company it will be.

Ormes said the relocated dealership and new, more affordable Jeep models will allow her company to reach new customers, such as Teaneck and Hackensack residents.

But for some, a shiny new car dealership replacing the Route 4 fixture that was the Forum Diner is a bittersweet change.

"That was kind of a landmark for Paramus -- people would say, 'I'll meet you at the Forum,' " said Dimitri Miaoulis, Laoudis' brother-in-law and chairman of the Greater Paramus Chamber of Commerce.

"I remember going there as a little kid, so I'm sad to see it go."

Steve Yannitsadis and Laoudis declined comment; Angelo Yannitsadis is in Greece and could not be reached for comment.

The Yannitsadis brothers still own and operate the Triboro Diner on Essex Street in Hackensack. The Laoudis family operates Mivila Foods, a large food supplier to restaurants and other clients from distribution centers in Paterson and Calverton, N.Y.

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