The lot behind I-5 Toyota is seen where Les Schwab prepares to build a new center, Wednesday afternoon in Chehalis.
A vacant strip of land directly to the north of I-5 Toyota in Chehalis may not sit empty for much longer.
Permit application documents submitted to the Chehalis Community Development Department and reviewed by The Chronicle included plans for construction of a Les Schwab Tire Sales and Service Center measuring more than 15,000 square feet to begin as soon as this fall, with an eye on completion next summer.
Les Schwab plans to relocate their current Chehalis operation at 36 N. Market Boulevard to the new site, according to Chehalis Community Development Director Trent Lougheed. The auto service company based out of Bend, Oregon, also operates a tire center on Harrison Avenue in Centralia.
“The (Chehalis) store has been there since 1981 and the facility would need pretty substantial updating,” said Spencer Enquist, the Southwest Washington Area Manager for Les Schwab. “We like to have a facility that is the appropriate size that will accommodate our customer base, which I think has grown over the 37 years, and to try and increase our visibility as much as possible.”
The commercial buildings at the Market Boulevard location total about 8,700 square feet sit on 1.02 acres of land, according to Lewis County property tax data. The proposed new building at 1980 NW Louisiana Ave. would occupy approximately 2.24 acres of property.
The Les Schwab location at 1211 Harrison Ave. in Centralia received what Enquist called a “store modernization update” a few years ago. That process included the addition of more service bays and updated equipment inside the building and out.
Design documents submitted to the city along with a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) checklist and a geotechnical inspection of the site show a layout that includes eight service bays for small vehicles, three service areas for semi trucks and a total of 55 parking spaces.
“They’re moving so they can get a bigger facility that they can do more things with,” Lougheed said. “We’re just starting the review process, but as long as they have complete engineering done, and it appears they do, we should be able to review it quickly and start pulling permits.”
New connections to the city water and electrical systems would need to be built as well as new commercial access roads off of Louisiana Avenue.
The SEPA documents include a note that the property lies within mapping of 100-year floodplain of the Chehalis River. It states a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) may be pursued to ask that the flood plain designation be removed from the property.
Robert Balmelli of RB Engineering in Chehalis is listed as the contact person on the permit application. He directed questions to Eric Rouse, Real Estate Manager for Les Schwab Tire Centers, who deferred to Enquist.
The proposed Les Schwab project is not related to ongoing discussions between Chehalis and Rich Development of San Pedro, California, regarding development of 16 acres of land directly to the south of I-5 Toyota.
That’s not to say a new tire center couldn’t have a positive impact on those and other conversations between the city and developers.
As the area continues to add commercial tenants and increased customer traffic, Enquist thinks it feasible that Les Schwab could hire more employees to account for increased demand.
“The more development done over there that attracts consumers to that zone, it will help spur demand for the other properties there,” Lougheed said. “The more customers there, the more people will want to get in there and develop. Hopefully this spurs additional interest in our properties to the west of Louisiana (Avenue).”
