Downtown Ford dealership in the process of being relocated
BUTLER TWP — Officials from the Ford dealership that has been on Butler’s Main Street for more than 100 years, now known as #1 Cochran, have plans to relocate the business to Evans City Road.
Bill Krahe of Grand View Development Co. relayed a proposal to the Butler Township Planning Commission on Tuesday to build a 30,000-square-foot facility on Evans City Road near Eberhart Road and Butler County Memorial Park Cemetery and Mausoleum.
The planning board ended up tabling the request for its next meeting in February, at the recommendation of Jesse Hines, Butler Township zoning officer.
Hines recommended the board table the proposal so he could work through a seven-page review letter with the project managers. He said the developers’ presence at the meeting was good to give the planning commission an idea of what they wanted to do with the proposed dealership.
“This plan has a lot of moving parts,” Hines said.
Krahe said the new facility is planned to be a “state-of-the-art building,” which would also include a collision repair facility in the rear, and potentially a new dealership on the left side of the driveway.
He said that while the township officials have some points to address with the developers, they have already spoken with other officials, including the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which owns that portion of the road.
“At this point, the goal is to get the Ford dealership developed, constructed and operating as soon as we can,” Krahe said. “We’ve been through the permit process with the (Department of Environmental Protection) ... the PennDOT process as well.”
Paul Simms, president and CEO of Butler County Memorial Park, spoke at the meeting about concerns he had with the amount of lights and traffic a new vehicle dealership could add to the road. However, he said some of his concerns had been addressed by Krahe and Ray Gusty, an engineer with Fahringer McCarty Grey, who is working on the project, but will continue speaking to Butler Township officials throughout the project’s development.
#1 Cochran, which owns more than 20 car dealerships around Western Pennsylvania, acquired what had been known as Butler County Ford in March 2022.
Rob Cochran, CEO of #1 Cochran, said at the time that he planned to relocate the business in the coming years.
