Car Wash Feasibility Study in Florida

Florida car wash loans run larger

A Florida car wash borrows more than a car wash elsewhere. The median SBA loan here is $1.2 million, 1.26x the median for washes nationwide, and loan size is the metric that differs from both Florida's lending in every industry and car washes nationwide. The middle half of loans spans $330,425 to $2.1 million. Florida ranks 3 of 53 among states for car wash loans, with 352 approvals worth $504.6 million over FY2017 to FY2026. Washes also run above their national weight in Florida's SBA portfolio, with a location quotient of 1.30x. Inside the state, car washes rank 11 of 39 classes.

A 504 market led by a few lenders

SBA 504 carries real weight for Florida washes, 144 loans against 208 under SBA 7(a). Of the 504 loans, 99 sit with Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. at $147.3 million, with Florida Business Development Corporation next at 29. On the 7(a) side Paradise Bank holds 50 loans worth $110.4 million, far above TD Bank, National Association at 19 and Wells Fargo Bank National Association at 14. Celtic Bank Corporation holds just 6 loans but $13.5 million. Franchised washes are 5.4% of loans, so most loans are not to franchised washes. Palm Beach County leads with 39 loans, then Lee at 30 and Orange at 25. FY2021 was the peak year, 53 loans and $87.5 million, while FY2026 brought 20 loans and $38.7 million.

The floors and the questions a study must answer

Florida wash approvals from FY2017 through FY2024 show a cancellation floor of 14.2%, and the ceiling that also treats undrawn loans as cancelled is 17.5%; the distance between the two is undrawn money that may never be used. Charge-offs stand at 3.8% of the 158 wash loans disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021, with 1.9% inside five years. Both rates can only rise. With a ticket near $1.2 million, a lender will lean hard on the study. It has to show traffic counts and capture for the specific corridor, map competing express tunnels and the membership pricing they set, cost the site work, equipment and water reclamation, and show debt service coverage that holds through slow wet-weather weeks rather than on a peak-season run rate. The appraisal is the other test: a car wash is a special-purpose property, and the study's income case is what the appraiser will lean on to support value.

One boundary to keep in mind: in federal industry coding a Florida tunnel wash sits in one bucket with truck washes and mobile wash services, so a few of these loans fund operations that look nothing like a retail tunnel.