Wendle Motors Inc., of Spokane, plans to spend as much as $1.5 million to upgrade the main showroom at its Wendle NorthTown dealership, and already is well under way on a smaller remodeling project on another showroom there.


Located at the northwest corner of Division Street and Wellesley Avenue, across Division from NorthTown Mall, the dealership carries Ford and Suzuki new-car models.


Wendle Motors President Chud J. Wendle says the company expects to start work this winter on an extensive remodel of the 35,000-square-foot showroom on the main floor of its three-level dealership building, which includes two upper floors of vehicle-inventory parking as well.


The company uses that showroom to showcase its Ford models and can park as many as 30 vehicles there, Wendle says. A glassed-in mezzanine level that houses administrative offices is situated above the showroom, and that might be remodeled as part of the project, he says.


The project likely will cost between $1 million and $1.5 million to complete, he says.


The company already has started work on a $400,000 remodel at a 5,000-square-foot showroom building to the northeast of its main building. That structure previously housed Suzuki models and some used vehicles, but now will be used to display the Suzuki line exclusively.


Work on that project started in July and is scheduled to be completed in October. Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor on the project, and Tiscareno Architects PS, of Seattle, designed it.


Wendle hasnt selected a contractor for the larger project yet.


For the Suzuki showroom remodel, Wendle is using a design originally developed by the car maker. The dealership plans to design the Ford showroom independently, however, with an Inland Northwest theme.


Both showrooms will have more open space, Wendle says.


One of the big things customers want is more open spaces where youre working on a deal around a table rather than in a cubicle, he says. Were going to be going away from cubicles in both showrooms.


Wendles grandfather, Chud Wendle Sr., co-founded Stoddard-Wendle Ford, in 1944, and bought out his partner in 1958. The dealership moved to its current location from downtown Spokane in 1964. In the mid-1990s, the company opened its Wendle at the Y location, farther north at 9000 N. Division, where it operates Nissan and Infiniti dealerships.