GREELEY — Greeley is experiencing a boomlet of construction on auto dealerships in the wake of last year’s closure of Iron Mountain Autoplex in Windsor.
Three of the autoplex’s Champion dealerships — Dodge, Mazda and Kia — have found new homes in Greeley under new operators, while the fourth member of the group, Chevrolet, hasn’t been revived because Greeley already has a Chevy dealer in Ghent Motor Co.
Two of the dealerships are bringing new construction. The John Elway Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership at 2501 35th Ave. — site of the former Hyundai of Greeley, which moved next door to Honda of Greeley — is adding 24,000 square feet to the facility.
Meanwhile, Scott Ehrlich, who owns Toyota/Scion, Nissan, Volkswagen and Subaru dealerships in Greeley, was chosen by the manufacturer to sell Mazdas. The new Ehrlich line has meant a two-phase project to add 7,500 square feet of space at Ehrlich Mazda’s location 870 27th St. The dealership started selling vehicles the first week of October.
“We’re selling Mazdas,” Ehrlich said. “We’re pleased Mazda allowed us to start selling cars before we were finished with the renovations.”
Getting a 2,500-square-foot renovation is a building that housed a used-car center as part of Ehrlich Subaru, which is next door. That work should be done in 60 to 90 days, Ehrlich said, then a 5,000-square-foot structure will go up on the Mazda site with completion expected in April or May.
“Moving these dealerships back into Greeley tells you that the manufacturers said, ‘You know, it wasn’t that good of an idea to move them out of town,’ ” Ehrlich said. “Having them in town is more convenient to our market, especially for service.”
Autoplex principal John Chamberlain lost the Iron Mountain dealerships when his financing arm, Chrysler, went into bankruptcy and New Frontier Bank, which was his lender, went under.
