Months after a fire destroyed the AutoNation Ford dealership on 116th Avenue Northeast, plans are underway to reconstruct the dealership with full sales and service.

An application for a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Threshold Determination was filed last week as the most recent step in the process to rebuild the dealership. The applicant would have to show construction on the property would have minimal environmental impact to be approved and open the way for other permits.

A fire on April 25 destroyed the building and left around 30 smoldering wrecks of vehicles on the property and the business in a lurch. Investigators could not determine the cause of the blaze, other than that it started in the service department. Arson was not suspected.

Despite the losses the company suffereed, no employees were laid off. The more than 70 employees employed at the time of the fire were put to work in on-site trailers or off-site service areas.

The permit has plans for a 34,693-square-foot building. The SEPA Threshold Determination would look at potential environmental impact for reconstructing the dealership.

The building would be constructed on the former location at 411 116th Ave. N.E.

According to the application, some concrete walls from the burned building remain on site and some walls and concrete slab will be left intact in the reconstruction.

The current plans are to open the service area in February 2016 and the sales floor in the summer or fall of that year.

The employees of the dealership will continue operations either on-site or at an off-site service location during construction.

Ryan Murray: 425-453-4602; rmurray@bellevuereporter.com