Coeur d’Alene dealership erecting $450,000 building

Dave Smith Motors in Coeur d’Alene is building a $450,000 structure at its dealership just off Interstate 90, according to permits issued by the city.

The Alfa Romeo and Maserati dealer, 2021 N. Fourth St., is in the elbow of Third and Fourth streets and shares the block with a Sherwin-Williams Paint Store.

In 2015, the Dave Smith Auto Group was purchased by fast-growing RFJ Auto Partners Inc., of Plano, Texas, with plans to spread the successful Kellogg-based company’s brand throughout the Northwest.

The same year it was sold, the dealer began the expansion with the purchase of nearly an acre of property in Spokane Valley. In 2016, the auto group acquired its Alfa Romeo dealership line from Lithia of Spokane, which had purchased the Barton Alfa Romeo Fiat dealership at 1002 S. Lincoln Ave. Lithia kept the Fiat dealership, but sold the Alfa Romeo line.