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Danville auto dealership site sells for $2.5 million

June 05, 2012|By DAVID BROCK | dbrock@amnews.com

David Brock/dbrock@amnews.com

A growing Danville company will soon move into the home of a longtime local car dealer.

Five B Properties LLC, owned by Beth and husband Bruce Robbins, who also own Lafayette Engineering, purchased the lot at the corner of Lebanon Road and South Danville Bypass for $2.5 million from Owens Chevrolet Inc.

Bruce Robbins said some of the existing showroom, which is more than 60,000 square feet and situated on a 15-acre parcel at the intersection of Danville’s busiest industrial corridor, will be used to test equipment for Lafayette’s clients.

“It all happened fairly quickly,” said Robbins, Lafayette’s president and one of its founders. “We have a business here that is expanding and need more space for equipment. This will help us grow our business.”

Lafayette, which will remain headquartered on Letton Drive, does electrical design and programming for conveyor systems and control panels. Its services are used in distribution by companies such as Macy’s department store, Dick’s Sporting Goods and American Eagle, as well as industries with local operations such as American Greetings and Timberland.

The auto dealership, owned by Stanford businessman Tommy Owens and known as GO Chevrolet, had scaled back retail automobile sales in recent years. However, Robbins said the company has continued to use the property to store and service equipment, including machines used in stone quarrying.

Lafayette was started in 1989 in Lexington but moved to Danville in 1991 and had doubled in size by 1992. With the rise of the Internet and other technologies that have enabled people to do business from anywhere, as well as the fact employees are often on the road to places like Houston or Los Angeles, Robbins said being located in Danville has never been a disadvantage.

The company recently hired two new employees bringing the total to 35, and most of the jobs are highly educated, skilled positions. The company is considering leasing or selling off some of the property, but Robbins is optimistic about Lafayette’s momentum and thinks the economy is showing signs of gearing up.

“We can use part of the existing facility, but the whole property is probably more than what we need right now,” Robbins said. “What is does is give us plenty of room to grow into.”

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