Has anyone repurposed a former car wash into multi-tenant flex space?

Question

I’m evaluating a former car wash property in Metro Detroit:

• Just under 1 acre lot
• ~4,000 sq ft building with multiple bays (9 ft clearance overhead doors)
• Zoned C4 “Multi Use Commercial”

My concept is to convert it into multi-tenant flex space for auto-related businesses (detailing, tinting, wraps, light mods, etc.).

I’d love to hear from anyone who has repurposed a car wash (or other single-use building) into something else. Specifically:

• What were your biggest challenges (zoning, drainage, ventilation, fire code, utilities, tenant improvements)?
• Any surprise “gotcha” expenses (sewer connections, environmental cleanup, electrical upgrades)?
• Did you find multi-tenant flexibility worked better than one larger user, or the other way around?
• If you had to do it again, what would you do differently?

Case studies, lessons learned, or even horror stories would be very valuable as I evaluate feasibility.

Thanks in advance!

Ronald Rohde · Answer

it can definitely be done. Its pricey to build out office, plumbing and elec capacity. Tyler Cauble has a video on this.

Michael K Gallagher · Answer

@Ibrahim Mawri I've not worked on car washes specifically but have been a part of ground up builds or conversions, and in general its all going to be site and local dependent.

You don't want to just get an understanding of the zoning, but also to your point any new, or changed regulations triggered by the repurpose.  My first question is given that its a carwash now, do the parking requirements change when the use does?  If you are now dealing with oil and other fluids (or if you specifically don't) from the car and not just washing it, does that trigger something?

If its part of a larger development you'll want to get ahold of the drawings and master plans to understand any encumbrances from that.

You can generally find most of this on public websites but the seller might have some info also.

Are you talking about keeping the existing structure or are you scraping the lot and rebuilding?  that could in itself have different implications as well.

depending on location the repurpose might not be the highest and best use.  might want to look into surrounding developments and projects.