Road Closure

[gshick]

I own a 4 bay SS car wash in Petersburg VA that is about 1/10 of a mile from a small bridge that crosses a river. VDOT just put up a sign saying the bridge/road in front of my Wash will be closed for the next 7 months! Has anyone else had any experience with this or something similar? There still will be access to the car wash from the other direction, however it’s going to cut down the traffic significantly.

 

[Waxman]

I wish you the best of luck. Not trying to be cynical but any time I have seen a bridge closed for repair it has been years not months that it has been closed.

 

[Randy]

When they rebuilt the road in front of my car wash I still had access to the car wash if you could call it that. Pretty much lost 9 months of revenue. They never did close the road. They would close one side for a few days and then the other. When it was open it was a muddy dirt track.
You might as well go on vacation while they rebuild the bridge.

 

[tdlconceptsllc]

I would check with your insurance and see if you might have a umbrella policy that would cover loss of revenue including this just to see maybe I could be totally wrong

 

[Randy]

I would check with your insurance and see if you might have a umbrella policy that would cover loss of revenue including this just to see maybe I could be totally wrong

I my case I could only collect on my insurance if they didn't give me access to the car wash. I had access, it wasn't the best but I had access.

 

[Kimberly Berg]

We went through that in 2013 at my wash. We're located on a corner. They closed 1 lane at a time, to widen the 2 lanes, moved overhead power & phone lines underground, added median landscaping and widened the sidewalks. Took 9 months. Fortunately, the worst of it was done during the winter season. They started in September and finished in June. The city had planned this project for over 10 years, so we knew it was coming. I attended the weekly construction meetings to help coordinate when they turned off my water, power and internet. Is there someone at VDOT you can call for more information? Signs help. I was on-site every day to make sure they stuck to their schedule and monitor the impact to my customers. Yes, our revenue was down, but it was the winter season. Good luck, I feel for you!

 

[Greg Pack]

Dealing with that now at one wash for the past two Months. Business is down significantly, probably 50%

 

[sjb]

Bummer!

As they say, if it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger!

Amp up your marketing and exposure, be creative and barter if possible, cross promote with your local schools, work with your local law enforcement and utility crews, they all have jobs and Need your car washing therapy sessions….
even if they don’t know it…!

Good luck!

 

[Bud's]

Two bay quick lube, 4 self serve bays and a touchless auto that had road construction three summers over five years after growing the business five years prior. Bought with 25,000 cpd out front, lost the south bound lane due to a new median with no turn lane, lost the north bound turn lane into the business, raised the speed limit and raised property taxes on commercial property to support the new school.
I stuck it out all the way two years after the road was done, business was half, ended up walking away and getting sued by Ashland oil due to having two years left on a ten year agreement. Learned a bunch about a city that isn't afraid to tank a business, never do business with Ashland oil( Valvoline Express Care) and don't stick around a day after this stuff starts the next time.

 

[Axxlrod]

I've dealt with this twice.

First time, city decided to take away the center turn lane in front of one of my washes and put in a landscaped median. So cars could no longer turn left into/out of the wash. Plus construction took several months, and although the city guaranteed access to the wash would not be cut off during construction, the contractors did just that many times. I inquired to the city about lost revenue and lost value of my property; they pretty much laughed at me and told me to hire an attorney if I felt that strongly about it.

Second time was another wash I'm involved with where the county took out the center turn lane, and put an "express bus" lane in. This project took over 3 years, and killed business. This time we did sue. The city/county settled with us, but unfortunately, most of the money went to pay the attorneys.

Good luck.

 

[New Washdog]

Crap, not what I need to hear from you guys!

The wash I am hoping to purchase (I should know more tomorrow about the purchase) is going to be going through a major road (multi year) rebuilding and configuration in a couple of years. The road is going to turn into a boulevard with multiple roundabouts. So instead of traffic being able to access us from both directions one lane will be required to head to the rotary and reverse direction.

Wish me luck tomorrow and for the future if it works out!

 

[Randy]

Crap, not what I need to hear from you guys!

The wash I am hoping to purchase (I should know more tomorrow about the purchase) is going to be going through a major road (multi year) rebuilding and configuration in a couple of years. The road is going to turn into a boulevard with multiple roundabouts. So instead of traffic being able to access us from both directions one lane will be required to head to the rotary and reverse direction.

Wish me luck tomorrow and for the future if it works out!

Do you think this might be the reason they are selling the car wash?

 

[Kimberly Berg]

Do you think this might be the reason they are selling the car wash?

HELL YES! The current owners must know about this upcoming major road closure project and don't want to deal with it. Is the price worth it 'New Washdog"? Owning & running a car wash on a daily basis can be stressful and intense, then you add a "multi-year rebuilding"... That would be a hard "no" for me!

 

[New Washdog]

Do you think this might be the reason they are selling the car wash?

Retirement is the reason for the sale.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Crap, not what I need to hear from you guys!

The wash I am hoping to purchase (I should know more tomorrow about the purchase) is going to be going through a major road (multi year) rebuilding and configuration in a couple of years. The road is going to turn into a boulevard with multiple roundabouts. So instead of traffic being able to access us from both directions one lane will be required to head to the rotary and reverse direction.

Wish me luck tomorrow and for the future if it works out!

You need to really consider walking from this deal. As others have said, you most likely just uncovered the real reason the wash is for sale. You're going to be looking at mulityears of drastically reduced income that most likely may never fully recover to anything near pre-construction levels.

 

[Dan kamsickas]

Retirement is the reason for the sale.

Most likely, finding out about the upcoming construction was the final straw. Most people contemplate retirement for several years. It's a huge decision with multiple pros and cons. There is always something that tips the scales one way or the other.

 

[New Washdog]

HELL YES! The current owners must know about this upcoming major road closure project and don't want to deal with it. Is the price worth it 'New Washdog"? Owning & running a car wash on a daily basis can be stressful and intense, then you add a "multi-year rebuilding"... That would be a hard "no" for me!

I got involved in the wash over 7 years ago expressly to be the succession plan. I have been running the wash pretty much in it's entirety for 5+ years, so I fully understand what it takes. Unfortunatly for me I've done such a good job the value of the wash has doubled based on revenues..

 

[New Washdog]

Most likely, finding out about the upcoming construction was the final straw. Most people contemplate retirement for several years. It's a huge decision with multiple pros and cons. There is always something that tips the scales one way or the other.

I fully understand the realities. The numbers have to work based on what I feel the risks are going forward. Lot's of moving parts to this deal to consider.

Wish me luck, we meet at 9am to discuss the deal! I don't plan on signing anything today, just gathering info on what is needed/expected to get the deal done. It's been a long drawn out process and I have been patient so far, but that may change soon.

Thanks everyone who has offered their views!

 

[Randy]

Retirement is the reason for the sale.

I got to call BULL $HIT! on that. The owners know what's going to happen and they are trying to cut there loses before everyone finds out that the car wash is going to be worth a whole lot less than what it is going to be worth once construction starts.

 

[New Washdog]

I got to call BULL $HIT! on that. The owners know what's going to happen and they are trying to cut there loses before everyone finds out that the car wash is going to be worth a whole lot less than what it is going to be worth once construction starts.

I do not believe the motivation to sell the wash is due to impending road construction, age of owner is. That said they are still not fully willing to face the impact to the wash and adjusting the value accordingly.