MT. COMFORT — Carvana has been inspecting, preparing and photographing used vehicles for its website at a facility off I-70 and Mt. Comfort Road for less than a year, and it already needs more room.
The company sells used vehicles online to customers who can get their purchases delivered or pick them up at one of the large Carvana “vending machines” across the country. It plans to add facilities and inventory parking lots to its operations at 6299 W. County Road 300N in Hancock County.
Planning documents filed with the county indicate the expansion is coming north of Carvana’s current site on about 71.6 acres the company owns.
The company’s upcoming post-production facility of almost 75,000 square feet will be for detailing, photographing, minor bodywork and minor engine repair.
Carvana’s used vehicles undergo a 150-point inspection and receive any needed mechanical repairs and paint jobs. Then they head into a large, brightly lit dome to be photographed with high-definition cameras surrounding the vehicle so that pictures can be stitched together online for a 360-degree view. Carvana also uses a camera-wielding arm that extends into vehicles’ open windows to create 360-degree interior views.
A new nearly 14,000 square-foot truck service building will be used for repairing and washing the company’s truck fleet used for transporting purchased vehicles.
There will also be about 21 acres of additional paved area for vehicle inventory.
The company anticipates a one-year construction schedule.
Carvana’s existing operations in Mt. Comfort, which started ramping up in early 2019, are on about 70 acres it leases from Broadstone CG Indiana, LLC of Rochester, New York. The site includes a vehicle inspection center of more than 95,000 square feet for inspecting and servicing vehicles along with a 36,750-square-foot paint facility.
Matthew Siemsen, a project manager with Carvana, told the Hancock County Plan Commission in September that the upcoming developments will bring the total number of vehicles stored at the property to 7,200.
That’s about a 30-percent increase, said Fredric Lawrence, an attorney with Carmel-based Nelson & Frankenberger representing Carvana.
“The expansion site will basically just be an expansion or reflection of what’s already there,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence also said that Carvana plans to employ 370 people by the end of the year, 110 of whom will be certified mechanics. Once fully operational, Carvana hopes to have a Mt. Comfort staff of 600 to 700, with about half being skilled mechanics.
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Carvana expansion
- 75,000-square foot post-production facility
- 14,000-square foot truck service building
- 21 acres of additional paved area for vehicle inventory
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