RealSource Arranges $4.06M Sale of New Construction Caliber Car Wash in Winter Park, Fla.
WINTER PARK, Fla. – RealEstateRama – RealSource Group, a national commercial real estate brokerage company focused on retail, healthcare and automotive properties, announced today that the firm arranged the sale of a brand-new construction, single-tenant net lease investment occupied by Caliber Car Wash at 6750 Aloma Avenue in Winter Park, Florida, in an off-market transaction. The sale price was $4,060,000, which represented a 6.65% cap rate.
RealSource’s Vice President Austin Blodgett, in association with ParaSell, Inc., represented the seller, a developer based in Tampa, Florida. Jeff Lefko, executive vice president with Hanley Investment Group, represented the buyer, a private investor based in Southern California.
The new Caliber Car Wash with a 3,000-square-foot building is located at the signalized intersection of Aloma Avenue and Forsyth Blvd. (with 37,000 cars per day) in Winter Park. The car wash is situated on an 0.815-acre pad in front of the Aloma Square Shopping Center, which is anchored by Aldi, Ace Hardware, Dollar Tree and Fresenius Kidney Care. Caliber Car Wash opened on June 1, 2021, and has an absolute triple-net, 20-year lease.
“We helped secure an all-cash, California-based 1031 exchange buyer who was familiar with the express car wash industry and knew this market very well,” said Blodgett. “We commenced escrow while the car wash was still under construction and went non-contingent months before the car wash opened for business or started paying rent. This sale is a true testament of the high demand for recession- and pandemic-proof investments by savvy net lease investors.”
Winter Park is in Florida’s Orange County and is part of the Orlando Metropolitan Statistical Area with over 2.6 million people. The subject property is located in northeast Orlando, about a 25-minute drive from Orlando International Airport and Walt Disney World.
“There is very little competition for an express wash in this immediate trade area and membership counts are expected to climb quickly in the first year at this location,” Blodgett comments.
“We are seeing cap rates continue to drop on these smaller- to mid-sized express car wash chains, especially in tax-free states like Florida and Texas,” said Blodgett. “A year ago, this transaction would have been in the low-7% cap rate range given this was only a 10-unit operator at the time of sale. We were able to achieve a 6.65% cap rate, which is a strong cap rate for a smaller operator like Caliber Car Wash.”
Blodgett adds, “More buyers are becoming comfortable with the express car wash business model and are open to taking more risk to buy properties that are leased to smaller operators (but have great real estate fundamentals) in order to achieve a higher return versus a national, top-five car wash operator with 100+ locations, which would typically trade in the mid- to high-5% cap range.”
Founded in 2019 by Danny York and Mac McCall, Caliber Car Wash is a membership-driven premium, express car wash company, with locations throughout the Southeast. According to the company’s website, the Atlanta-based company currently has 16 car wash locations in operation and coming soon in Alabama, Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. In January 2021, Eagle Merchant Partners (Eagle), a leading Atlanta-based private equity firm, announced its investment in Caliber Car Wash to accelerate its growth.
About RealSource Group
RealSource Group is a commercial real estate brokerage company that specializes in tenant representation, investment sales and sale-leasebacks on a national platform. With the combination of RealSource’s leasing and sales experience, broker network, technology, processes and national platform; RealSource delivers high production, quality service and measurable results for its clients. Since 1991, having transacted over 850 commercial real estate deals nationwide, RealSource has perfected its platforms through proven execution. For more information, visit: realsource.com.
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