New York investors buy well-known Squeeky’s Car Wash in St. Pete

A New York property investment firm has bought the three-decades-old Squeeky’s Car Wash in St. Petersburg and plans to expand the brand.

Andover Properties, the buyer, would not disclose how much it spent on the car wash at 3264 Tyrone Blvd. N., but according to Pinellas County records, it paid $4.12 million for the property on the heavily traveled thoroughfare.

This purchase grows the firm’s car wash portfolio to five locations.

Squeeky’s first opened in the 1990 and, as of Dec. 1, had not updated its website to reflect the change in ownership. Its page still refers to the car wash as family owned and operated.

Andover specializes in alternative real estate asset classes including self-storage facilities, manufactured housing, RV parks and car washes. As part of the deal, it also bought the company’s intellectual property and plans to rename any car wash it buys in the future Squeeky’s.

Zach Harding, the chief investment officer for Andover, says in a statement announcing the buy that the number of car washes the company owns will likely continue to grow in the near future.

“At a time of capital markets upheaval, investor uncertainty and pronounced new car wash supply, we expect to see more of these opportunities in the coming months and years, with the potential for asset prices to become even more attractive,” he says.

Andover is no stranger to the Gulf Coast and Florida. The New York-based company has an office in Miami and in August bought the 600-unit, 105,000-square-foot Jim’s Stowaway at 3257 Radio Road in Naples, changing the name to Storage King USA.

In all, Andover owns 43 Storage King facilities in Florida, including locations in Sarasota, Fort Myers, Zephyrhills, Englewood, Lakeland and Polk City.