From Big Box to Car Wash - Another Form of Creative Adaptive Re-Use
The $15 Billion U.S. Car Wash market is growing fast.
New ground-up conveyor belt washes are being developed by the likes of Mister Car Wash, Driven Brands Inc., (International Car Wash Group), Zips Car Wash LLC and many others all throughout the country.
But not all conveyor belt washes are new construction.
Like the Valet Auto Wash in Langhorne, PA.
It is a converted 40,000 sq ft #ToysRUs #BigBox retail store.
And it isn’t Valet Auto Wash’s only #carwash adaptive re-use.
New Jersey-based Valet Auto Wash has a history of making successful adaptive re-uses the linchpin to its growth and real estate strategy.
The very first Valet Auto Wash in Trenton, NJ which opened in 1994?Â
It was a repurposed historical trolley car barn.
Today more than two thirds of its existing sites are adaptive re-uses of existing buildings and real estate that originally served other functions.
For instance, Valet’s largest auto wash opened in Lawrenceville, NJ in 2016 in a 55,000 square foot former warehouse. It features a 245 foot long tunnel, 36 vacuum stalls and two conveyors for interior services - all under a single roof.
Some Valet Auto Washes are more conventional adaptive re-uses in that they were previously used in an automotive capacity - such as the renovation of a former Hyundai auto dealership in Manahawkin, NJ.
But other Valet Auto Wash adaptive-reuses are more unique. Like the Mt. Laurel, NJ location that previously was home to a Giant Fitness Gym or the Valet Auto Wash in Burlington, NJ which is a converted bowling alley.
But the largest number of Valet Auto Wash's adaptive re-use conversions has been with #BigBox retail sites.
The Valet Auto Wash at the Franklin Hills Mall in Philadelphia is a former 50,000 square foot former Pathmark Supermarket that was permanently closed following parent company A&P's 2015 bankruptcy. Today it is one of the largest car washes in the U.S. with side-by-side double car wash tunnels and more than 70 indoor vacuums.
But the largest collection of Valet Auto Wash Big Box conversions consists of former Toys R Us stores. In addition to the Langhorne, PA car wash conversion, two of the most recent Valet Auto Wash new openings - in Greater Syracuse and Rochester, NY - are also former Toys R Us and Babies R Us locations.
The unique adaptive re-use conversions that Valet Auto Wash has completed have not only facilitated its growth, differentiated it from its many peers, and injected new life into vacant sites but have demonstrated the capability, flexibility and functionality of #BigBox real estate, including for many uses that may not yet be imagined!