Car Wash Feasibility Study in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area

Twin Cities car washes: large loans, low density

Car washes rank nineteenth locally in the Twin Cities, 19 of 39, and a location quotient of 0.56x puts them well below the national share, although the metro stands 18 of 458 nationally. The 41 loans total $52.6 million across FY2017 to FY2026. Half of all the Twin Cities loans fit between $204,000 and $1.9 million, around a midpoint of $825,000 that works out to 0.89x of the national class figure.

Twenty-five of the loans use 7(a) and sixteen use 504. The franchise share is withheld. Twin Cities-Metro Certified Development Company is the one holder listed, with 8 loans and $10.3 million on the 504 side. Each name in the holder column is today's holder of a loan in SBA's file, and the page draws no inference about any bank. The code covers car and truck washes, mobile washes included, and truck washes share it.

Counties and years

Anoka County, MN and Hennepin County, MN each have 10 loans, and Wright County, MN has 5, so the suburban counties carry as many loans as Hennepin. Cancellation and charge-off figures for Twin Cities car washes are withheld by Loan Analytics as each cohort has too few loans, which means blank rather than zero. The years that print: 5 loans and $5.2 million in FY2017, 9 and $15.3 million in FY2021, 9 and $9.5 million in FY2023, 6 and $7.8 million in FY2024.

All other years are held back. The July 2023 delineation draws the line around the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro, and a project county outside that line takes its loans out of the count.

What a Twin Cities car wash study has to test

A wash study tests site traffic, the lot's stacking capacity, water and utility costs, and how volume moves through the seasons, then compares the format, whether express tunnel, in-bay or self-serve, with competitors nearby. Costs for the site, building and equipment are set against the $825,000 median, and wash counts and ticket must carry debt service coverage. Ticket counts per wash bay should be run at the $204,000 lower quartile and at $1.9 million, the upper edge of the middle half, so the study shows where coverage thins. The approval, or the refusal, belongs to the lender.