Knudtsen Will Leave Cda’S Auto Row For Post Falls Site

Knudtsen Chevrolet plans to leave Fourth Street’s auto row.

The dealership expects to close on an 8-acre parcel along Interstate 90 in Post Falls within 60 days, said Eve Knudtsen Benedict, company president.

The move will take place in the next two to five years.

“I’m running out of room,” Benedict said of the dealership’s four acres at 1710 N. Fourth St.

The company tried to relocate at the corner of U.S. Highway 95 and Park Avenue last year, but neighbors opposed plans to rezone the property commercial.

After the Coeur d’Alene Planning Commission turned the project down twice, Benedict looked elsewhere.

“Given the traffic counts and the (growth) in Post Falls, it made sense to go there,” she said.

The new site is located north of Interstate 90, near the Midway Nissan dealership and the Rathdrum/Highway 41 exit. About 56,000 vehicle pass by the location each day, Benedict said.

The dealership may sell used cars from the site until a new building goes up, Benedict said. Knudtsen Chevrolet was one of the first dealerships to move to Fourth Street in 1966. “It was a big leap for my father, (Wayne Knudtsen),” Benedict said. “Everyone told him he was moving way out of town.”

But customer parking is an increasing problem at the dealership, Benedict said.

Several other auto dealers have left Coeur d’Alene’s downtown and mid-town areas in recent years for more room and more visibility along Highway 95 and Interstate 90.