First Baptist Church School to be Converted to HQ for Mister Car Wash

The three-story former First Baptist Church education building at 222 E. Fifth St. near downtown Tucson will be redeveloped as headquarters of Mister Car Wash by May 2014.

Mister Car Wash currently operates six carwashes in Tucson and 124 carwashes nationwide. As announced in a press release, the company bought two Simoniz locations from Wash Depot Holdings Inc. last month, raising the number of locations acquired in 2013 to 21. The current leap has been expected as the fast-developing car-wash chain has outgrown its present Foothills place at the La Paloma Corporate Center and had to temporarily relocate some employees to satellite offices, Arizona Daily Star reports.

John Lai, CEO of Mister Car Wash, considers attracting a young workforce to the firm as well as keeping them just as important as growing through acquisitions. “The big picture for us is, to attract top talent we knew we needed to be where the action is,” Lai said.

The school building, inaugurated in 1952 and used by the First Baptist Church for decades was partly demolished for a redevelopment into condos in 2008, but that project remained only a plan due to the economic crisis. Permits still must be approved for the 28,000-square-foot realty, but work could presumably begin in November. The new design will preserve the ‘50s brick exterior and inside, an existing stairway will be moved in order to form a large entrance hall.

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