Rapid Express Car Wash has snapped up an outparcel in a Walmart-anchored shopping center as its 13th location in south-central Texas and third in the Bryan-College Station metropolitan market.
The Houston-based car wash operator has purchased a 0.9-acre pad site at 1632 W. Villa Maria Rd. in the 652,522-sf Rudder's Landing in Bryan from developer Crossfulton Investments Ltd. J.J. McDermott, vice president of Houston-based NewQuest Properties, represented the buyer, who is planning to break ground within 90 days.
"We jumped at the opportunity to get a site in a Walmart-anchored center," McDermott says. "This market, particularly Bryan, is underserved for car washes."
Shortly before the Rudder's Landing site surfaced, Rapid Express Car Wash had closed on a development tract in nearby College Station. "He's actively expanding and looking for sites," McDermott emphasized.
The longtime operator's property portfolio extends from Houston to Greater Austin. The Bryan-College Station market caught the owner's eye about three years ago, with the first location resulting from the acquisition of an independently owned and operated car wash along William J. Bryan Parkway.
The MSA's population is slightly more than 273,000, with residential and retail development as strong catalysts for a local economy that's held up throughout the 2020 pandemic. Its unemployment rate hovers 4%, which is lower than state and national averages. The chief driver is Texas A&M University, home of the Aggies, the largest student body in the nation and its legendary football team.
Rapid Express Car Wash tentatively is slated to open in summer 2021 in Rudder's Landing. Jeremy Richmond of Oldham Goodwin Group LLC represented the seller.
NewQuest Properties, founded in 2001, is a privately owned, full-service commercial real estate firm specializing in development, land brokerage, leasing, tenant representation, investment sales and property management services. Headquartered in Houston, NewQuest owns a portfolio encompassing more than 60 retail and mixed-use projects valued at $2.2 billion and provides leasing services for more than 12 million square feet of commercial space in Texas, Louisiana and throughout the U.S.
