The Dexter Village Council Monday night unanimously approved a request for $330,330 in Washtenaw County brownfield redevelopment tax financing for the redevelopment of the LaFontaine Chevrolet dealership in the village.

The first phase of the two-part $5.34 million project at 7120 Dexter-AnnArbor Road is expected to begin in April and will include the demolition of the current body shop on the east side of the site.

The second phase will do away with the used car trailer, existing sales building and make other changes to the west side of the site. The completed building will be a 32,000 square-foot-structure with an office, sales and showroom space, parts and service area and vehicle washing and storage space. The 8.34 acre site will have space for 431 vehicles.

The project is expected to be completed by December. The plan includes $330,300 in tax-increment financing.

The project qualifies for the brownfield money because small portions of the property have been contaminated with chemicals and metals. “All existing structures … will be demolished or removed prior to redevelopment of the site and all appropriate building materials and non-contaminated soils will be reused as back fill on the property,” the Brownfield application states.

Currently, the site has two buildings with about 16,280 square feet of floor space, two small storage sheds and an office trailer. The western-most building includes a showroom, sales area, administrative offices and an auto service and repair area.

The eastern-most building houses the body shop and a collision repair area, a paint booth, a paint mixing area and a small office.

The new design includes an off-site body shop.

The property is zoned G-1 for general business use. The dealership will seek LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) for its new facility.

The dealership and the village will work together to design a public art feature for the corner location at Ryan Drive and Dexter-Ann Arbor Road. LaFontaine agreed to donate $5,000 toward a piece of public art.

The dealership expects to add 50 to 100 new jobs and be able to sell as many as 2,000 vehicles per year.

The Brownfield project proposal was first approved by the village's DDA and will now head to the county for approval before heading to the state, but it is unknown how soon the project will be considered. If approved, the tax capture for the project will not exceed 3.5 years.

Lisa Allmendinger is a reporter with AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page.