George Gee, owner of George Gee Pontiac/GMC, has sold the dealerships current location on East Sprague in the Spokane Valley and apparently plans to build a new facility for the dealership on land just north of Interstate 90 at the Liberty Lake exit.


Gee couldnt be reached for comment, but Jeff Forry, a senior building technician in Spokane Countys building and planning division, says Gee currently is going through a plan-review process with the county to receive a building permit for the new facility.


Meanwhile, Gees current dealership property, which includes land on both sides of the East 8800 block of Sprague, recently was sold for $1.7 million to Third Letter L LLC, says a real estate excise tax affidavit on file with Spokane County. Third Letter L LLC is a real estate partnership formed by Denny Waltermire and Vic Pestrin, Waltermire says. Waltermire and Pestrin also co-own Fourth Letter T LLC, which operates the Hallmark Hyundai Kia dealership here.


The proposed Liberty Lake project, which would include construction of a 55,000-square-foot building, is planned on about seven acres of land that previously had housed the Spokane operation of Auburn, Wash.-based Timberland Homes Inc., says the countys Forry. Its unclear whether Gee already has bought that property.


Forry says Gee has submitted an environmental checklist for the proposed project and has submitted some site documents. According to planning documents, Gee had hoped to begin work on the new dealership last month and complete it by next May. Those plans, obviously, have been delayed.


Waltermire says that Hallmark Hyundai Kia plans to move from its current location at 7103 E. Sprague to Gees properties on East Sprague next July, after George Gee Pontiac/GMC has moved into its new location near Liberty Lake. Both dealerships will remain at their current locations until next summer, when George Gee Pontiac/GMCs new facility is completed, Waltermire says.


Hallmark Hyundai Kias new location will be nearly twice as large as its current one, and will enable the dealership to own its own property, Waltermire says. He says that the dealership has outgrown its leased, 3.5-acre site. The property that Third Letter L bought from Gee includes the addresses 8801 E. and 8812 through 8814 E. Sprague, the real estate excise tax affidavit says.


Hallmark Hyundai Kia currently employs about 20 people, and Waltermire expects to hire additional workers once the dealership moves to its new location. He says he doesnt know how many people the dealership will hire yet.


The Fourth Letter T was formed about three years ago, when it bought the Hyundai franchise from Spokane Chrysler-Plymouth Inc. The company bought the Kia franchise from George Gee Pontiac/GMC about four months ago.


If the Gee dealership completes its move to Liberty Lake, it will be the second auto dealership to locate there in recent years. Seattle auto dealer Biff Brotherton opened a Land Rover dealership in Metropolitan Mortgage & Securities Co.s business park, called Liberty Lake Center, last year.