Desert car wash sells for $2 million

A Yucca Valley car wash has been sold for $2 million.

The Quick Quack Car Wash at 58024 Twentynine Palms Highway was sold by a private investor in Orange County to a private investor in Newton, Pa., according to Hanley Investment Group in Corona Del Mar.

Hanley Investment represented the seller. Both parties wished to remain anonymous.

Built last year, the car wash covers 3,600 square feet near Hilton Road and Twentynine Palms Highway, about 10 miles from Joshua Tree National Park. It’s part of a Stater Bros-anchored shopping center whose tenants include Dollar Tree, Harbor Freight Tools, Tractor Supply Co., Jack in the Box, Pizza Hut, and Subway.

A popular car wash can bring “tens of thousands of shoppers” a year into a shopping center, enough to make them “quasi-anchors,” said Bill Asher, executive vice president with Hanley Investment.

“The average location can be very profitable and withstand potential future economic challenges,” Asher said in a statement. “In certain markets, top-performing car washes have been backfilling vacant pads, former shop buildings and junior box spaces.”