BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT:Beaming over new showroom

Glendale’s only BMW dealership is well on its way to becoming the largest car dealer in the city.

When it’s completed, in eight to 12 months, Pacific BMW will span 226,000 square feet over its four floors and be 40 feet high, said Reggie Louie, operations manager for Pacific BMW.

“Physically they will be the largest, followed by Lexus,” said Philip Lanzafame, director of development services for the city of Glendale. “Lexus is currently the largest.”

Crews knocked down the Brand Boulevard dealership’s old offices last year. Now, they’re in the middle of a construction effort to expand their new building.

A major move Pacific BMW is making is to an empty lot on Windsor Road that lays parallel to the building and intersects the South end of Brand Boulevard, Louie said.

In the next three months, the two parts of the building on either side of Windsor Road will be connected by a concrete bridge overhead.

The lot will become storage space for pre-owned BMW’s.

“This building is very unique because it’s one of the only buildings in Glendale, besides the Galleria, that spans a road,” he said. “We will actually bridge Windsor [Road].”

Pacific BMW’s building will span the length of a football field, Louie said.

The new sales, corporate and service departments are almost finished and the dealership has doubled its storage capacity, Louie said.

The dealership can now house 400 vehicles and when the second part of construction is finished, it will be able to hold 600, Louie said.”This, right now, is just storage but later on it becomes the service area,” Louie said as he opened a glass door leading to the back end of the dealership.

Pacific BMW now has its service department on San Fernando Road. The new service department will be in the same building as the showroom, Louie said.

The service department and showroom will not only have new locations but they will also have new looks.

“We’re pretty much aesthetically updated,” Louie said.

Those updates include a sales floor and show room with 29-foot-high ceilings, steely gray walls and floors, and a façade that features large windows.

All the sales cubicles have transparent walls and the customer lounge features Internet connection and ample seating.

Steve Lindstrom, the dealership’s general manager, said he was happy with his new surroundings.

“It was well worth putting a little money into it and building something very nice,” he said. “It’s just a very exciting process and I can’t wait until service is done. I think our customers will love it.”

Pacific BMW is open for business during construction.