George Gee Automotive Group has been awarded a Porsche dealership, absent from the Spokane area for about 16 years, and plans to construct a building at Liberty Lake to house it, says President Ryan Gee.


Weve been pursuing the franchise for almost three years, says Gee, son of the automotive groups CEO and dealer, George Gee. Its a fantastic brand, and we felt it was a natural extension of our current product lines.


Porsche models include the Cayenne sport-utility vehicle, the Boxster roadster, the Carrera GT, the 911, and the newly introduced Cayman S. The 2005 Cayenne has a manufacturers suggested retail price range of about $40,000 to $90,000, depending on the version, while the Boxster comes in two variations, priced respectively at $44,000 and $53,000, according to Porsches Web site.


The 911, which Gee calls Porsches signature car, is available in 13 versions, retail priced from around $69,000 to $192,000, and the high-performance Carrera GT has a 605-hp, V-10 engine and is priced at $440,000. The Cayman S, a two-seat coupe based on the Boxster series, is expected to go on sale in the U.S. in mid-January at a price of about $59,000.


Gee Automotive Groups planned 10,000-square-foot Porsche of Spokane building will be constructed just east of its Hummer dealership building north of Interstate 90, Ryan Gee says.


He says the total cost of the project hasnt been determined yet. Given its size, though, it presumably will be pricier to build than the 5,700-square-foot Hummer facility, which opened about six months ago and had an estimated cost of more than $2 million. That project, however, also included an off-road test track.


The Porsche of Spokane building will include a roughly 6,000-square-foot showroom area and a 4,000-square-foot service department, and will be located on about three-quarters of an acre of land, which will include some added paved parking, Gee says.


Construction is expected to begin late next month and to be completed by next January, Gee says. Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, will be the general contractor. A Porsche dealership operated in Spokane years ago, but closed around 1989, he says.


Along with the Hummer line, which is owned by General Motors Corp., Gee Automotive sells and services three other GM-brand vehiclesPontiac, GMC, and Buick. Its main 68,000-square-foot dealership building, at 21502 E. Mission, sits on 7.5 acres of land and includes a 44-bay service department.


The Gee dealership developed and moved into that building in 2000. The dealership, which Gee has owned since 1983, previously had been at 8801 E. Sprague. Late last year, a company headed by George Gee also bought the assets of Dan Barton Cadillac Isuzu Inc., of Coeur dAlene.


Gee Automotive Group likely will reassign some employeesand expand its work forceto accommodate the Porsche dealership staffing needs, but those details havent been worked out yet, Gee says.