Car Wash Feasibility Study in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metro Area

Car washes are a small slice of lending in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton area. The location quotient of 0.54x is well under parity, the class holds 16 of 39 in the metro's roster of classes, and yet the area ranks 14 in a field of 458 for the class. The file lists 47 approvals between FY2017 and FY2026 for $33.9 million, and the $503,000 median is 0.54x the national class median.

Wide size band, big banks

Central loans stretch from $50,000 to $1.1 million, a very wide band that suggests a mix of small equipment loans and real estate. 7(a) supplies 36 loans and 504 supplies 11. TD Bank, National Association shows 11 loans and $9.5 million, while Eastern Bank shows 7 loans and only $704,200. Middlesex County, MA has 13 loans, Essex County, MA 12, Plymouth County, MA 9 and Strafford County, NH 5. The franchise share is 0.00%.

Cancellations and what is hidden

Cancellation after approval has a floor of 21.1% for FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, a high number. Concealed by SBA are a tougher cancellation measure and a charge-off figure. Only FY2019 (7 loans, $4.6 million), FY2021 (8 loans, $6.9 million) and FY2024 (8 loans, $7.2 million) can be read, and SBA hides the remaining years. The bank lines come from SBA's roll of loans each bank carries or carried, so they cannot show how any bank treats car washes.

Testing a car wash in Massachusetts or New Hampshire

The code spans car and truck washes, mobile operations included, so the study must settle whether the project is an express tunnel, an in-bay automatic or a self-serve site. A tunnel is a real estate and equipment deal; the others are lighter. The core tests are traffic count at the site, visibility, vehicles per day, competing washes and the share of members versus single washes. In New England, winter closures, salt-driven demand and water and sewer permitting alter the revenue curve, so the cash model should show the seasonal pattern. Environmental review for wastewater is a cost line. A lender seeing a 21.1% cancellation floor will look for entitlements in hand. Placement follows the July 2023 map.