Two Spokane companies, European Auto Haus Inc. and Four Seasons Landscaping Inc., have bought property in an industrial development on the West Plains and plan to build new structures there.

European Auto Haus, which repairs primarily German-made automobiles, plans to construct an $850,000 building on 1.3 acres it has purchased at 6510 W. Thorpe, near the Geiger Road-Interstate 90 interchange, says Jeanna Linafelter, who owns the company with her husband, Greg.

Four Seasons Landscaping, meanwhile, has purchased 5 acres nearby on which it plans to construct a new building for itself, says Spokane real estate developer Dick Edwards, who is marketing the development for Fosseen Road LLC. Edwards also is a member of that LLC, he says. A representative for Four Seasons couldn't be reached for comment.

The 16.3-acre development is located in an unincorporated part of Spokane County just southeast of the Geiger-I-90 interchange. It's been subdivided into about a dozen lots that have city of Spokane water and sewer services and paved streets, Edwards says. It has frontage on Thorpe and Fosseen roads. Edwards says other parties also are negotiating to buy parcels there.

Jeanna Linafelter says she and her husband have selected James W. Elmer Construction Co., of Spokane, to construct a 2,750-square-foot steel building for European Auto Haus.

In addition to the Linafelters, European Auto Haus currently employs two auto technicians, and it will hire at least one additional full-time technician when the building is completed early next year, Linafelter says. The company's sales have increased about 10 percent over the past year, she says.

Linafelter says the 6,000-square-foot building the couple leases currently for its shop, at 3915 E. Boone, isn't designed to be an auto garage, so although it's substantially larger than the planned new structure, the new building will be equipped with more usable repair space, including six car lifts with space for eight, a wash bay, and three rollup garage doors.

Linafelter says the building originally was planned as a wood-frame structure with metal siding, but the couple had the design modified because county regulations would have required additional fire hydrants on the property if the structure had a wood frame.