McCurley Dealerships aims to be the best auto group in the market it serves, and it’s planning a significant facility expansion across multiple properties to support that vision.

The roughly $31 million expansion includes adding about 50,000 square feet at the Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership in the Pasco Autoplex, plus expanding the McCurley Subaru dealership off Sandifur Parkway in Pasco and building a new home for the Yakima dealership.

“It’s exciting,” said John Inman, McCurley’s chief executive officer. “When you’re in our business, when your purpose is to serve the client, and you’re handicapped in any way to do that in terms of capacity, it’s frustrating. When we’re able to actually have the ability to serve a client in the way they want to be served, it’s really exciting.”

All the projects are expected to start this summer and finish in about 18 to 24 months. Mountain States Construction Co. is the general contractor and Real Centric Solutions LLC is the project manager.

At the Chevrolet and Cadillac dealership, more space is needed for parts and service to keep up with the growing number of those vehicles in the area, Inman said. The accounting department also will be expanded so that it can serve as a central hub for McCurley.

The first phase will include adding a new large truck shop and expanding the parts and accounting departments.

“We will then go into phase two, which will build out the new service drives and express facility (for oil changes), and the final phase will be the construction of our brand new state-of-the-art ‘main shop,’ ” Inman said.

In all, about 20,000 square feet will be added to parts and about 30,000 square feet to service, with more than 40 stalls total at the location to work on vehicles.

About 27,750 square feet of existing space at the dealership is being remodeled.

The work will cost about $15 million. LPR Architects is handling design.

At McCurley Subaru off Sandifur Parkway, “we are adding a service lane and six additional express service stalls to accommodate the high demand for maintenance and mechanical repairs,” Inman said. McCurley has seen “unprecedented growth” in the Subaru line since it moved to the Sandifur Parkway location about seven years ago, he said.

The price tag for the 8,000-square-foot project is about $1 million.

Meier Architecture and Engineering is handling design.

Finally, McCurley will spend about $15 million on a new home for its Subaru dealership in Yakima. The new 39,800-square-foot facility is going in near the Costco in Union Gap, with Bora Architecture & Interiors handling the design.

McCurley has about 325 employees across its locations, which also include a Mazda dealership in the autoplex, a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Kennewick and a Honda dealership in Richland.

The company traces its roots to 1981, when Bill McCurley bought a Chevy dealership in the autoplex. He added franchises along the way, and McCurley now makes about 20% of new and used vehicle sales in Benton, Franklin, Walla Walla, Kittitas and Yakima counties, Inman said.

That growth, coupled with growing demand for the vehicle brands McCurley offers, make the expansion project necessary to fulfilling the company’s mission, Inman said.

“We’re committed to the people we work with, to the customer and the experience they’re having in our dealerships, and to our community. Those three pillars – if we can deliver on those, we’re going to be the best auto group in the market we serve,” he said.

“That’s really what this is all about – building a business that’s sustainable and people want to do business with and are happy with and want to support,” he said. “We’re putting our money where our mouth is, in that sense, and trying to make the experience a better one for all.”