Car Wash Feasibility Study in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area

South Florida car washes: a median far under the nation

The median car wash loan around Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach is $351,000, only 0.38x the national class median, yet the middle half stretches from $63,000 to $2.7 million, an unusually wide band. The cell holds 81 approvals worth $123.8 million for FY2017 to FY2026. The area is 9 of 458 among all areas, car washes are 11 of 39 on the area's own list, with a location quotient of 0.79x shows a lighter weight than the nationwide mix.

The program split is lopsided: SBA 7(a) took 72 loans and SBA 504 carried 9. The franchise share, the cancellation top limit and the charge-off rate are all withheld, so none appears. Cancelled approvals among the FY2017 to FY2024 group start at 11.6%. The industry code puts truck washes and mobile washes together with car washes, which blurs the class.

Lenders and counties

Paradise Bank holds 30 SBA 7(a) loans worth $78.6 million, the standout book in this cell, while TD Bank, National Association holds 13 loans but only $702,000. Naming an SBA 504 lender is impossible here; none has enough loans. That gap between Paradise's dollars and TD Bank's is the most striking pattern here, and a lender reading a request should ask which type of project each represents. The rows are SBA's holder data and no judgment of practice. Palm Beach County, FL has 39 loans, Broward County, FL 22 and Miami-Dade County, FL 20.

Four years are withheld, FY2019, FY2020, FY2025 and FY2026. The years shown run from 8 loans and $13.2 million in FY2017 and 7 in FY2018 to 16 loans and $31.7 million in FY2021, 7 loans and $2.9 million in FY2023, and 15 loans and $18.9 million in FY2024. Placement follows each loan's project county and the 2023 delineation.

What a Miami-area car wash study has to settle

The study should size traffic, wash types and water costs near the site in Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade County, and cost equipment and land against a $351,000 median that sits well below the national one. Cars per day and membership share must cover debt service, and the land and equipment are appraised apart. Loan Analytics takes Miami projects singly; its signatory is Daniel Smith, MAI, and 81 past approvals are only context.