Honda North in Butler, Pa received approval this week from Connoquenessing Township to begin construction of a brand new, state of the art 26,000+ square foot Honda dealership on the intersection of Route 68 (Evans City Rd.) and Kreiss Rd. on Wednesday, August 5th at the Township meeting. The new facility is scheduled to open on May 1st, 2010 and will include a climate controlled indoor service drive, indoor vehicle delivery area, and a 12 vehicle used car showroom. The new dealership will have over 300 parking spaces on 5 acres and will double our current facilities Service bays and Sales offices.
The following story was published by the Butler Eagle on Sunday, August 9th.
Honda North breaks ground on facility
Growing dealer needs more room
By Ed Biller
Eagle Staff Writer
CONNOQUENESSING TWP — Honda North will begin construction this week on its new 26,000 square foot facility on Kreiss Road.
Owners and employees gathered Friday at the site, which now is 8 acres of grassy field, for an official groundbreaking.
"We've been working on this for about two years. We've outgrown our current facility as well as the ability to service our customers the way we want to," said Jon Palmiero, vice president of the dealership.
Honda North has doubled its sales volume from about 500 to 1,000 new Honda vehicles a year in the past five years, according to American Honda District Sales Manager Michael Oberschelp.
The new facility will cover about 5 acres of the site, and will include new amenities such as indoor service delivery and a used car showroom.
It will expand Honda North's service division to 20 vehicle bays from the nine bays at the current 17,000 square foot building at 630 Evans City Road. It also will double the number of service technicians from seven to about 15.
With new sales personnel and service advisors, the dealership's total employees will rise from 39 to about 55.
"This is a great thing for the township. I'm happy we could get everything worked out to keep Honda North here and bring some jobs to the area," Supervisor Jack Kaltenbaugh said.
As part of its agreement with the township, Honda North must add a turning lane to Kreiss Road, where its delivery trucks will enter, and contribute $87,500 toward turning lanes on Route 68 at its intersection with Kreiss Road.
Township supervisors estimated the cost of Route 68 turning lanes at $350,000 to $450,000. Should federal stimulus money contribute to the installation, Honda North's obligation would be lessened.
Associated Contractors, based in Conneaut Lake, is overseeing the project and will subcontract some of the work to local companies.
"We'd like to be in the new building by May 1. We hope to move everything in one day, so there is no down time," Palmiero said.
The Honda dealership has been in the township since 1972, when it occupied the former Nissan dealership next to Honda North's current facility.
Honda North has been in its current building, which it leases, since 2005.
Palmiero said the building's owner is interviewing prospective tenants for when the dealership moves.
.JPG)
.JPG)