CarMax Inc., a Richmond, Va.-based operator of more than 100 used-car dealerships nationwide, says it has agreed to buy property along East Sprague Avenue, in Spokane Valley, and is in the early planning stages for a superstore there.

Elia Imler, a Richmond, Va.-based CarMax spokeswoman, says that the company has under contract about nine acres of largely vacant land just east of Dishman Dodge Chrysler. She says the envisioned CarMax dealership would have frontage on both Sprague Avenue and Appleway Boulevard at its north and south borders.

"We like this site because it's in an auto dealer corridor with major big box retail," Imler says. "It's also on a stretch of road near the interstate with great visibility and frontage on two major roads, Sprague and Appleway."

The south section of the property that fronts Appleway is undeveloped, while an empty used-car lot and building are located on the north section fronting Sprague.

John Hohman, a senior development engineer with the city of Spokane Valley, says CarMax submitted a preliminary project layout for a pre-application meeting that occurred in April.

Imler says CarMax generally invests $15 million to $25 million in the development of a new dealership, including land purchase, building construction, and other miscellaneous costs. The site is expected to include a 45,000-square-foot building with a showroom, service area, business office area, customer lounge, and a kids' play area.

She says, however, the company hasn't set a timetable for construction, and it could be a number of months before the company breaks ground on a project.

"When we start looking at a property, it could take two to three years before a CarMax is open for business," Imler adds. "We are still in the feasibility stage and have not started the approval process."

This superstore, if constructed, would be the company's first in Washington state, she says, and with an outlet of this size, CarMax typically hires from 75 to 100 employees. A CarMax lot of similar size being proposed now in Pennsylvania would carry a stock of about 250 to 450 vehicles, based on company reports.

CarMax's decision to pursue a plan to build along the Sprague-Appleway corridor is welcome news to Spokane Valley City Council member Dean Grafos, who had campaigned against the Sprague-Appleway Revitalization Plan, known as SARP.

In late April, the city council voted to end SARP.

"This entire transaction was contingent on the elimination of the SARP restrictions," Grafos asserts. "With the elimination of the SARP and the restriction in the zoning codes, now they are going to come to the Spokane Valley."