January 29, 2014

Subaru dealer buys former King GM site

LONGMONT – The owners of Valley Subaru and Valley Nissan in Longmont are moving the Subaru dealership a few blocks west to the former King GM site to accommodate growth.

WWW Properties LLC – an entity led by Valley owner Roger Weibel and his brother Don – paid the King family $3.1 million in December for the site at 1800 Industrial Circle where that street intersects with Ken Pratt Boulevard.

The Industrial Circle site has sat empty since 2012. That’s when King Auto Group bought out Hajek Chevrolet and moved its GM and Buick dealership to the Hajek site at 1415 Vista View Drive east of town, forming King Chevrolet Buick GMC.

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Roger Weibel said Valley’s expansion was needed to providing an appropriate level of customer service.

Valley will tear down the former King showroom on the south side of the nearly seven-acre site. The service building to the north will remain, with a roughly 8,800-square-foot addition built on to the southeast corner of that building that will include a new Subaru showroom. The old parts department will also be renovated. Valley Subaru will go from six and a half service bays that it has now to about 16 at its new site.

The move will allow Valley Nissan, meanwhile, to expand into Valley Subaru’s current digs. The Nissan dealership is at 1005 Ken Pratt Blvd., with Valley Subaru next door at 1045 Ken Pratt Blvd. The Nissan expansion will mean more service area for the brand’s lineup of electric vehicles, as well as its trucks and commercial vans. Valley Nissan will also gain some quick-lube bays for more convenient scheduled maintenance for customers.

“We’re way overloaded here as far as ground space and mechanic stalls and parts area,” Weibel said. “And this is an opportunity for us to keep it fairly close for management.

“This way, Nissan benefits, Subaru benefits, and the customer base will benefit.”

Tom Moore of Longmont-based Moore & Bishton Architects PC is leading design of the new facility, though no builder has been named yet. Weibel said he’s still unsure what the project will cost.

Weibel is working through the planning process with Subaru and the city, and said it could take a little more than a year before construction is complete and the move occurs.

“I’m hoping less,” Weibel said.

Valley Nissan and Subaru combined employ about 70 people. Weibel said that number will jump by about 20 when the new Subaru store opens. He declined to disclose revenue figures for the stores, but he said Valley Subaru’s sales eclipsed 1,000 new units in 2013 and Valley Nissan’s sales were similar.

The Weibel family has been a staple of Longmont’s car dealership scene since the 1970s when Weibel and his brother came to town to run St. Vrain Chrysler Dodge. Don is retired and out of the dealership business. But Roger’s son Jay and daughter Leslie are involved.

In addition to Valley Subaru and Nissan, Weibel owns Loveland Ford as well as Longmont’s Prestige Chrysler Dodge Jeep and Ram at 200 Alpine St., having recently completed renovations to that dealership.

“We’re very active in the business,” Roger Weibel said. “We’re here every day. Boulder County, the city of Longmont, it’s been good to my family.”


LONGMONT – The owners of Valley Subaru and Valley Nissan in Longmont are moving the Subaru dealership a few blocks west to the former King GM site to accommodate growth.

WWW Properties LLC – an entity led by Valley owner Roger Weibel and his brother Don – paid the King family $3.1 million in December for the site at 1800 Industrial Circle where that street intersects with Ken Pratt Boulevard.

The Industrial Circle site has sat empty since 2012. That’s when King Auto Group bought out Hajek Chevrolet and moved its GM and Buick dealership to the Hajek site at 1415 Vista…

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