First time investor looking to get into the business is this wash a good investment?(pics in post)

[MMSON96]

First time investor looking to get into the business is this wash a good investment?(pics in post)

Hello everyone been looking into the car wash industry for a few months and I came across this abandoned car wash not too far from my house. It has a daily traffic count of 26k and according the property records it was just bought by an individual for $290k from a franchise that abandoned it. I cant say I’ve seen it in operation since the pandemic at least and almost forgot about it until I drove by a few days ago but the current owner has yet to make any repairs etc. so I was thinking maybe the new owner isn’t interested in the work it may require and it could make a good investment opportunity for me. It has 3 self serve bags and 2 automatics bays that I have pictures of and I’m certain repairs will be needed for it. There’s about 6-8 vacuums on property. And I’m certain the electrical would probably need to be redone as the junction box is completely empty. Aside from that I’m not sure what else to include in here. But let me know if anything sticks out in the pictures below any information helps thank you.

 

[OurTown]

Seeing the utilities marked makes me think it is about to be razed.

 

[MEP001]

Seeing the utilities marked makes me think it is about to be razed.

You might be right. One of the IBAs has a couple large areas where the tile has come off. That could indicate major settling of the slab and shifting walls.

 

[OurTown]

Also they painted over the "car wash open" decals on the friction IBA door. That looks like a nice newer door.

 

[UtahYoutubeGuy]

If you get it at a discount theres almost always an opportunity. First discount I am asking for is for the electrical work because it looks like some crack heads stripped your wire out of there.

 

[MMSON96]

If you get it at a discount theres almost always an opportunity. First discount I am asking for is for the electrical work because it looks like some crack heads stripped your wire out of there.

It sold for 300k most self service I’ve seen built were for 500k+ so I wonder if 200-250k would be a good deal

 

[Randy]

I think you might be dreaming if you think you can get it for 200-250k if it just sold for $290K. About 6 months ago 2 car washes here were sold for $850K each, both are dumps. They are slowly being brought back to life, I can't understand why they are bringing them back to life they'll be trashed again in no time. I think OurTown might be right, it be could be razed and used for another purpose.

 

[Roz]

It sold for 300k most self service I’ve seen built were for 500k+ so I wonder if 200-250k would be a good deal

Answer depends:
On local competition
on soundness of the building and electrical and pipes to&from building
On the local demographics,
and lastly on your ability to spend money necessary to bring place back to life.

Say you buy the place for $300K, you can easily spend another $500K-$700k to replace all the equipment and make the place attractive to entice customers to return. If you are able to commit to such a project you might have a diamond in the rough. But look closely at the building to see if the bones are good. If good bones then it could be a good find. Otherwise value is just for an empty lot after demolition costs.

Good luck.

 

[Randy]

That looks like the Blue Diamond car wash at 3200 Kristin Way, Louisville, Kentucky

 

[OurTown]

That looks like the Blue Diamond car wash at 3200 Kristin Way, Louisville, Kentucky

Heck yeah it looks like it. How did you find that?

 

[OurTown]

The latest Google review from two months ago states it is going to be torn down.