Seattle-based truck dealer Western Peterbilt Inc. is moving its Spokane Valley operation to Liberty Lake, where its owner, Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, of New York City, recently purchased the former La Mesa RV Center property, just south of Interstate 90.


Western Peterbilts sales department moved there last month, but its service, parts, and leasing departments wont move until April, when remodeling work at the new site is expected to be completed, says David Warren, the companys director of services.


We flat out needed a bigger footprint to handle our operations, says Warren. We have a capacity issue on the current property. Western Peterbilt has gained a lot of market share in medium-sized, inner-city trucks, and the Liberty Lake site is a prime location along I-90.


Western Peterbilt employs 42 people here, but doesnt disclose company revenue or sales growth figures, he says.


It currently occupies a total of about 20,000 square feet of leased space in three buildings, plus some small storage structures, on 3.5 acres of land at 6214 E. Broadway, Warren says. In Liberty Lake, Western Peterbilts sales department now occupies part of the only building on the site, a more than 31,000-square-foot structure that sits on more than 9 acres of land, at 23501 E. Knox, he says. The company has moved its truck inventory to the large adjoining display lot.


The Western Peterbilt operation here sells new and used trucks and services trucks and provides parts for them. Warren says a fast-growing portion of the business is its leasing department.


Spokane Peterbilt opened its doors at the Broadway location in 1968, and was bought by Western Peterbilt in 1997, says Warren.


Western Peterbilt has 16 locations in Washington, Alaska, and California, and is a franchisee of Peterbilt Motors Co., a division of Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar Inc.


In 2000, Foretravel Inc., of Nacogdoches, Texas, developed the complex Western Peterbilt now occupies in Liberty Lake and moved its Foretravel Northwest dealership there from Coeur dAlene, where it had been operating for 16 years. La Mesa RV Center, of San Diego, bought the building and property in 2003, but later shut down its dealership.


Contact Rocky Wilson at (509) 344-1264 or via e-mail at rockyw@spokanejournal.com.