What's being built next to Culver's on Third Street in Bloomington?

A company owned by a Bedford attorney and former state lawmaker plans to build a car wash just east of the Bloomington Culver’s, on West Third Street.

Filings with the city show Bedford-based Hang Tight LLC plans to build a 6,450-square-foot, six-bay Green Clean car wash on the 1.69-acre site formerly occupied by Master Rental.

According to filings with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office, the people behind Hang Tight are Sally and Brent Steele, of Bedford. Brent Steele is an Indiana University graduate and attorney with Bedford law firm Steele & Steele. He also formerly served as a Republican state representative and senator.

Filings with the city of Bloomington indicate the existing buildings on the property will be removed, but the existing sidewalk along West Third Street will remain.

The plans also call for an office and a mechanical area and the planting of sugar maples, sycamores and red-twig dogwood shrubs.

Eric Greulich, senior zoning planner with the Bloomington Planning and Transportation Department, emphasized the project is in the very early stages.

He said customers likely would enter the car wash from a shared drive between the car wash and Culver’s.

Hang Tight owns three parcels west of the Culver’s, according to the Monroe County Geographic Information System. Greulich said the car wash would occupy the eastern and central parcels.

Greulich said his contacts with the developer had not indicated a timeline for construction or completion.

Steele did not reply to a phone message.

The Green Clean Car Wash is at least the third car wash to be planned in the area in the last year. Last summer, the owners of two eastside Bloomington restaurants filed plans to raze the structures to make room for a car wash. A new car wash also is being planned for Ellettsville.

What's being built: Two restaurants on Bloomington's east side to be razed for new business

The American car wash services market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 5.5%, reaching nearly $24 billion by 2030, according to a 2023 market analysis by Research and Markets. The analysis indicated the proliferation of such businesses was fueled in part by investor interest "due to minimum labor requirements, high volumes and quick returns."

According to the International Car Wash Association, the rising number of car washes reflect consumer demand: According to a 2023 ICWA survey, 79% of respondents said they prefer a professional car wash over washing their vehicles at home. That's up from 52% in 1996.

Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: What's being built next to Culver's in Bloomington, Indiana