Lithia Nissan will undergo $1.5 milllion renovation.

Byline: RETAIL NOTEBOOK By Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

The theme here is cars and a couple of local building projects that tap into our obsession with them.

First up: Lithia Nissan, at 2060 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Eugene. The dealership, remodeled about a year and a half ago, is to get a top-to-bottom, $1.5 million makeover.

"We're gutting the entire building and just reconfiguring the whole thing," General Manager Larry Pierce says. "Not a single wall will be left standing."

Reasons for the renovation are various. First, the project will add 5,000 square feet to the building footprint. That will allow expansion of the showroom to about three times its current size, along with construction of a new express lube facility that will take oil changes out of the service department.

Then there's the outside appearance.

"Most Nissan dealerships, over the next couple years, will have the same look to them," Pierce says. The Eugene facility will be among the first to try on the new image, which will go heavy on landscaping.

Permits for the project are in place, and construction is expected to begin in a week and a half, with completion early next year. Chambers Construction of Eugene is the general contractor.

A mobile office is already in place at the Lithia car lot, and work will jump from one part of the building to another, to accommodate ongoing operations.

"We're going to try to do the process in phases, so we can use different areas of the dealership," Pierce says.

Suds and shine

Meanwhile, an addition to the local automotive economy will likely be built by late this year on Harlow Road in northwest Springfield.

The New Image Carwash, being developed by David Diens of Eugene, will be between the Crossland Economy Studios and the Les Schwab Tire Center.

"Right now, there's just a vacant lot of grass," says Damien Gilbert, who is working on the project for Branch Engineering of Springfield.

The site review process before Springfield planning officials is wrapping up, and will be followed by submission of final site plans. Building will start in late summer and should take about three months, Gilbert says. A cost estimate was not available.

The 6,613-square-foot facility - which is to include a 2,000-square-foot, stand-alone office or retail building - will feature one automatic car wash tunnel, four self-service car wash bays and four vacuum-cleaning bays.

A tenant for the standalone space has not yet been chosen.

Retail Notebook runs Thursdays.