Standing in the dazzling new location of Mercedes-Benz of Lancaster, it's hard to imagine what stood there just two years ago.

Where once was a drab two-story office for a Yellow Freight terminal, now there's a main showroom with tall glass walls, high ceilings and pillars flanking the front door.

Where there used to be a long series of dock doors for loading and unloading freight, now there's a long extended showroom for additional display of vehicles.

Where buildings had sat amid a flat sea of asphalt, now the main showroom and adjoining areas perch atop a landscaped rise at the end of a curved driveway.

"We're tickled pink with this. It turned out great," said Frank Nolt, vice president of Lancaster County Motors, which owns the dealership.

Mercedes-Benz of Lancaster opened at the Route 72 location on Monday, having relocated from 1550 Commerce Drive, a mere six-tenths of a mile away.

The high-end ambiance of the spacious new facility matches the luxurious quality of the cars for sale there at prices as high as $200,000 plus.

The only traces of the property's past life are the steel beams of the former dock, which have become the frame of the extended showroom and parts department.

Nolt said many people had a hand in the transformation of the idle trucking property, which carries an address of 5100 Main St., East Petersburg.

He pointed to East Hempfield Township officials, contractor Simeral Construction, architects Hex 9, land planner David Miller/Associates and the dealership's employees.

"It was a team effort. Everybody worked together," Nolt said.

Nolt noted the employees played key roles in the project, from making numerous suggestions to improve the layout to moving the business in a mere two days.

"We didn't miss a beat," he said.

Employees will play a key role in the success of the dealership going forward, too, as they have in the past, according to Nolt.

"It's all about the people. Buildings don't sell cars. Facilities are designed to give customers a good experience, a good atmosphere for doing business.

"But if you don't have the right people, the experience sours quickly. ... I'm very blessed to have the employees I have," he added.

The property at Route 72 and Commercial Avenue had been the site of a trucking business since Shirk Motor Express opened there in 1935.

Several acquisitions, expansions and decades later, the site became the busiest of 521 Yellow Freight terminals nationwide.

Those glory days in the 1980s and early 1990s saw an average of 750 trucks come or go through the main gate each day.

Four million pounds of freight were handled daily, a volume that boosted the site's workforce to 1,500.

Then came a slow collapse of the business, as cheaper competitors snagged more and more market share.

The final 75 workers at the terminal, by then operating as YRC, left in spring 2011.

It seemed like the 55-acre property would be left vacant for years.

But the owners of Lancaster County Motors found themselves in need of just such a parcel, just as news broke of YRC's demise.

The catalyst was Mercedes-Benz, which wanted to update and enlarge their dealership, on Commerce Drive since 2001.

Lancaster County Motors figured they had two choices.

They could renovate and expand on Commerce Drive, which would force them to work out of trailers for months. Or they could build elsewhere.

With the Yellow Freight property being down the street from Lancaster County Motors' Kia, Hyundai and Subaru stores, they picked option B.

It wasn't a perfect location, though. It was way too big — 55 acres.

The solution was to subdivide the property, keeping eight acres for the new Mercedes-Benz store and leasing the rest to a new business, ABC Lancaster Auto Auction.

"The new uses fit what was already here," said Nolt, noting how Yellow Freight's former yard and maintenance building became parking and auction lanes for ABC.

"That's what made this feasible."

Nolt declined to disclose the total cost of the new Mercedes-Benz store.

Simeral Construction has put its share of the total project cost at $6.7 million, a value that excludes land, furniture, soft costs and other items.

YRC sold the entire 55-acre tract to the Lancaster County Motors owners for $5.4 million, according to courthouse records.

Whatever Lancaster County Motors invested, the sum more than tripled the size of its Mercedes-Benz of Lancaster store.

The new building is 60,000 square feet, versus 18,000 square feet on Commerce Drive, a property that Lancaster County Motors intends to lease out.

Having that much indoor space (including the extended showroom) will allow Mercedes-Benz of Lancaster to display 25 to 30 cars inside.

It also makes for far larger parts and service departments. For instance, the new service area has 22 lifts, compared to 10 on Commerce Drive.

Beyond that, the extra space has allowed Mercedes-Benz of Lancaster to add the Mercedes-Benz line of commercial vehicles, Sprinter.

In addition, it has enabled the dealership to increase its work force by five employees to 55. Several more workers might be hired this year.

There's also a car wash for the Mercedes-Benz store and Lancaster County Motors' other nearby dealerships; eventually it will be available to the public.

Customer amenities are a big part of the new store. They include a children's play area, two waiting rooms (one with a TV), a boutique and a cafe.

tmekeel@lnpnews.com