Pacific BMW opens overhauled building

A swath of East Windsor Road that intersects with South Brand Boulevard and runs underneath the Pacific BMW car dealership was blocked off Saturday morning for the grand opening ceremony for the business’ newly renovated building.

But that section of East Windsor Road won’t normally be closed. That’s because the dealership’s owners jettisoned their initial proposal to close off the street to make room for their growing business several years ago in the face of fierce neighborhood opposition. Instead, Pacific BMW constructed an overpass above East Windsor Road that increased the building’s size while still keeping the road underneath open to motorists.

On Saturday, city officials and prospective car buyers gathered at the dealership to recognize the completion of the project and check out the merchandise.

“It was a long journey, but I think it was something worth waiting for,” Councilman Bob Yousefian said.

The $22-million renovation project turned an approximately 20,000-square-foot building into a 226,000-square-foot, 3 1/2 -story facility, said Nick Lam, the vice president of Pacific BMW. The building, which sits at 800 S. Brand Blvd., houses showrooms for new and pre-owned cars, expanded parking for inventory and the business’ service department, which used to be located on San Fernando Road.

“We wanted to bring service and parts back under one roof,” said David Ho, president and CEO of the business.

The service department more than doubled in size, from 20 service bays to 53 service bays, with the completion of the new facility.

“We can take a lot more cars into service a lot easier,” said Steve Lindstrom, the business’ general manager.

The dealership originally opened on Brand Boulevard in 1982. About eight years ago, the owners were looking for a way to expand and modernize the building to stay competitive, Lam said. But when the dealership broached the idea of closing off Windsor Road to use the street space as part of the expansion, the plan was opposed by neighbors worried about more traffic and less street parking.

So the dealership embarked on a new plan to build over Windsor Road utilizing the overpass. The company wanted to expand while acting as a good corporate citizen and taking residents’ concerns into consideration, Lam said.

Construction was completed at the end of 2007.

During the grand opening ceremony on Saturday, members of the City Council spoke about what the dealership had brought to the community and how the project was an example of good cooperation between a business, the city and residents.

“This is a huge economic engine for the city of Glendale,” Councilman Frank Quintero said.

Dozens of Pacific BMW customers were there, too.

“We are BMW drivers,” said Bobby Wahedi, who was there with his wife to look for a car for her.

Mark Barrios said he thought the layout of the new facility, with all the departments in one spot, made sense. But he wasn’t there to enjoy the building as much as what is in it.

“I want to see the new M3,” he said