West Herr Automotive Group plans to open its new Ford Lincoln Mercury dealership in

Amherst this fall, one of several dealer-driven construction projects occurring locally.

Dealers around the region are pouring money into their facilities to bring them up to

customer expectations for features like lounges and service areas, as well as to meet

automakers' standards for selling their products.

West Herr will replace an existing facility at its Millersport Highway location, north of

the University at Buffalo's North Campus. The project will create an 18,000-square-foot

facility that will include private sales offices, an eight-vehicle showroom and a high-tech

customer waiting area, said Annette Smith, a West Herr representative.

While construction is under way, business will continue as usual at the existing

dealership, which is between Millersport and Campbell Boulevard, Smith said. Once the new

dealership is finished, the old showroom will be torn down.

The location employs 140 people and expects to increase employment over time to handle an

anticipated growth in business, Smith said.

West Herr said the new, expanded dealership will accommodate its need for a bigger, more

modern facility. The dealer group, one of the largest in the nation, acquired a

Lincoln-Mercury franchise in Clarence in 2007 and later relocated those operations to its

existing Ford location on Millersport.

Paul Stasiak, president of the Niagara Frontier Automobile Dealers Association, said

industry trends such as consolidation are one reason for the uptick in dealership construction

projects.

"Obviously with downsizing in the market, dealers realize they will be seeing more

customers," he said. And dealers are preparing for that influx with improvements such as more

service bays and other expanded features, he said.

The automakers are also pushing for upgrades, to ensure the facilities are of consistently

high quality, Stasiak said.

A few of the local dealership projects are occurring in Clarence near Transit Road. Last

fall, West Herr finished overhauling a showroom to create a new home for a Toyota franchise it

had acquired on Main Street.

Next door, Northtown Automotive has created a "destination" retail hub to put its Volvo,

Porsche and Land Rover franchises under one roof.

Also on Main Street, Mercedes-Benz of Buffalo is about to start an upgrade valued at close

to $1 million. The dealership will make a variety of renovations as well as some exterior

changes, such as new signs, said Brooke Arber, the general manager. The goal is to complete

the work by September.

The changes are part of Mercedes-Benz's "Autohaus" initiative for its dealers to adopt

similar design features. "It's something that all the dealers are going through right now,"

Arber said.

The automaker will probably cover about half the cost of the Clarence project, she said.

In Amherst, Northtown has unveiled plans to move its Lexus franchise across Sheridan Drive

into a former Chrysler dealership that will be renovated and expanded. The $7.7 million

project is receiving about $536,000 in tax breaks from the Amherst Industrial Development

Agency.

Volkswagen of Orchard Park earlier this year marked the renovation and expansion of its

dealership on Southwestern Boulevard. And Schmitt's Audi Volkswagen has nearly finished

upgrades to its Bowmansville location.

Schmitt's had sold off its Chrysler and Jeep franchises and wanted to shift from a generic-

looking dealership to one reflecting its focus on German vehicles, said sales manager Jay

Dean. The automakers had requirements for what the facilities should look like, but the

changes were not only for appearance's sake. "Volkswagen and Audi have very aggressive [sales]

goals in the U.S.," Dean said. Volkswagen said last year it wants to triple its U.S. sales

volume by 2018, and more than double its Audi sales in the U.S. by 2018.

As a result, Volkswagen wants to ensure the dealership facilities are prepared to handle

such a dramatic increase in business, Dean said.

New-vehicle dealers around the country are seeing growth in sales this year. Edmunds.com

predicts new-vehicle sales for May will increase nearly 18 percent from a year ago, when sales

were slumping amid a poor economy.

Some used car dealers are also making improvements. In North Buffalo, the property that has

housed the Tunmore family's car sales operations was sold and the location was renamed Basil

Resale Delaware. Basil plans to overhaul the site this year with improvements valued at $1.5

million.