“Downtown Orangevale Car Wash is about much more than a business,” explains Cliff Wylie, who is opening this venture later this summer along with his co-owner and son, Jeremy Wylie. “This community is our home. We love the people and the place and wanted to do something different – something extra-special – and TMC and the SBA 504 have been central to that.”
They’re achieving their vision with a new facility that’s much more than simply a place to clean cars: It’s bound to become a family-friendly community hub for all to experience and enjoy.
Here’s how Financiamiento TMC y el Préstamo SBA 504 helped.
Building on a legacy of business success
Cliff, who is a former mayor of Orangevale, CA, explains that while Downtown Orangevale Car Wash, located at 9352 Greenback Lane, is important as a business venture, “Our
bigger goal is to create something that brings joy to our community.”
Their vision included more than a standard car wash – theirs includes a dog wash and mascots, a laser show, and music, too – as well as a slew of community fundraisers and special events.
“We have a family business, Warehouse Interiors, and with this new venture, we wanted to build something that could be fun and community focused, as well as profitable,” Cliff explains. “We’ve also redeveloped a lot of commercial properties around town and had this additional land available. After speaking with people about what would be a great fit for the spot, a car wash came up over and over.”
Researching the right opportunity
It took several years before they decided to move forward with that plan, in part because the Wylie family wanted to make something special there. “I attended a convention in Las Vegas for car-wash businesses, and I was blown away by what we could do with our location,” Cliff admits.
With dogs being as important to their family as people, they knew they wanted to add a dog wash – and when they learned about lasers, music, and more that could be built into the car-wash experience, they were hooked.
“I can envision a mom or dad piling the kids in the car to enjoy the whole experience,” Cliff says. “That’s the goal – to provide something different, to bring joy, to make someone’s life a little easier because when the kids are bored, they can come here and have fun together.”
Partnering with TMC
Cliff credits Rick Poipao of RCP Construction with introducing his team to the SBA 504 loan and TMC Financing. “We’ve worked with Rick and RCP for years on many projects, and his advice regarding TMC was some of the best that we got over the five or six years of the project.”
In fact, Rick referred Cliff to TMC after working with SVP Jim Azevedo and the TMC team on his own construction project – a connection that proved invaluable as Cliff moved forward with his vision, “If it wasn’t for Jim,” Cliff says, “we may have just thrown in the towel.”
That’s because deals like this are complex and take an experienced and dedicated team to bring them to fruition – and that’s what Cliff found with Jim and TMC.
SBA 504 loans are made in partnership between the business owner/s, a bank, and an SBA-certified lender, like TMC. For the wash project, Celtic Bank partnered on the deal.
“Once we met with Jim, it was solid,” he continues. “He guided us, told us what we needed to do, and ensured that our paperwork was in and complete. It was amazing, really, because after several years that were filled with a lot of setbacks, once we met with Jim and TMC, it all went quickly and smoothly.”
Jim says, “At TMC, we’ve got the experience needed to close financing no matter how complex a situation is, and when our work helps entrepreneurs to make a positive difference – through investment and jobs, of course, but also through their commitment to their communities – that makes the whole process even more satisfying. That’s what Cliff and his team bring to this and it was a pleasure to help. I’d also like to thank Rick for thinking of us and referring Cliff to our team.”
Securing the right financing
For their ground-up construction project to build the 4,800-square-foot facility, Cliff says that the right financing was essential. “A wash like ours is a big investment and required a lot of permitting and plans,” he says. “It also takes the right financing to make it feasible.”
The SBA 504 loan is a great option because it offers:
- A down payment of only 10% for most projects – and even for a special-use project like Cliff’s, the required down payment of 20% is significantly less than special-use down payments for conventional commercial mortgages, which typically range from about 40-50% of the project cost. For Cliff, this made his $7.45 million project, including ground-up construction and equipment, more feasible.
- A fixed interest rate for the life of the loan, which can be from $50,000 to $5.5 million for the SBA 504 portion, with no maximum for the first mortgage. TMC has financed projects valued from $500,000 to $44 million.
- A 25-year term for most SBA 504 projects. This makes payments predictable and more affordable while stabilizing occupancy costs for decades.
Fixed interest rates also make payments easy to predict and budget over the life of the loan.
Building a dream
Construction is well underway and the Grand Opening is set for September 11 – and Cliff hopes that everyone in Orangevale will turn out. And, with a membership model at the heart of the business plan – $29/month for unlimited washes – and single washes available, too, as well as dog washes, there’s a way for everyone to come away cleaner.
In addition to planned events for the opening, there will be ongoing support for several organizations in Orangevale – including a donations to local youth sports leagues for every car wash and donations to PAWS Animal Rescue for every dog wash. They’ll also host pet-adoption and pet-care events.
TMC Financing and the SBA 504 loan can help
“Jim and TMC had our backs throughout the process. We’re excited to open and I really believe we couldn’t have made this work without TMC and the SBA 504 loan,” Cliff says.
If your business is located in our service area of California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and Oregon, póngase en contacto con TMC Financing to get started. If your business is located outside of our service area, try the SBA’s Lender Match tool to find a qualified certified development company (CDC) lending partner near you.
Acerca de la financiación de TMC
Financiamiento TMC is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) Certified Development Company (CDC) with a mission to promote economic development and job creation by helping small businesses access affordable financing. Since its founding in 1981, TMC has provided approximately $16 billion in SBA 504 commercial real estate financing to over 8,000 small businesses across Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Oregon. These efforts have helped create more than 63,000 jobs. TMC is recognized as the #1 SBA 504 lender in the nation, offering long-term, fixed-rate financing that empowers small business owners to purchase, construct or refinance real estate and major fixed assets to grow their operations.