The express tunnel car wash industry is one of the fastest-growing segments in commercial real estate. Investors — including members of Pace Morby’s Owners Club — are aggressively acquiring sites across Florida. But not every piece of land qualifies. Here’s exactly what car wash investors look for when evaluating a site.
The 5 Non-Negotiable Site Criteria
1. Traffic Count (AADT)
Average Annual Daily Traffic (AADT) is the single most important metric for a car wash site. The minimum threshold is 12,000 vehicles per day — but sites with 20,000+ AADT command premium prices. You can check your site’s AADT for free at the Florida DOT traffic data portal.
2. Frontage
The tunnel requires a minimum of 65 linear feet of road frontage for proper ingress, egress, and stacking. Sites with less than 65 feet cannot accommodate the physical footprint of a tunnel wash.
3. Lot Size
A standard express tunnel car wash requires approximately 1.5 to 2 acres, including the building, vacuum stations, stacking lanes, and exit lanes.
4. Zoning
The site must be zoned to permit a car wash by right — no rezoning petition, no special use permit, and no conditional use approval required. Sites needing any of these approvals are not viable due to entitlement risk.
5. Price
Car wash investors are targeting sites priced at $1,000,000 or less in Florida’s current market.
Florida Markets With High Demand
Levine Capital and Owners Club members are actively looking in Port St. Lucie and the Treasure Coast, the Orlando metro area, Tampa Bay suburbs, Jacksonville suburbs, and the Ocala/The Villages corridor.
