The longtime Uptown Car Wash & Xpress Lube at 5500 Tchoupitoulas Street is officially for sale, and that one listing is already stirring up an old neighborhood fight over what this changing stretch of Tchoupitoulas should look like. After roughly three decades of wash-and-lube service on the site, brokers are now pitching the property’s large footprint as ripe for retail or small-scale commercial redevelopment, while neighbors and preservation advocates are bracing for the next round of proposals, as reported by Uptown Car Wash.
Where the property sits
The car wash covers most of the 5500 block of Tchoupitoulas, framed by Tchoupitoulas, Joseph and Octavia streets, a short walk from a Port of New Orleans facility and directly across from Dos Jefes cigar bar. According to the Uptown Car Wash site and local business listings, the operation has been running at this address for decades, quietly occupying a big chunk of land on a corridor that has seen increasing development interest.
What’s for sale and why owners are selling
The parcel, listed this week and marketed by The McEnery Company, totals roughly 70,000 square feet and is being offered with no public asking price, as reported by NOLA. The ownership group led by Andrew Stall, Jonathan Drennan and Kevin Hilbert told the outlet that advisers believe the land value has outpaced the car-wash business itself. Brokers quoted in the listing materials say would-be buyers are expected to look at full-scale redevelopment rather than trying to keep the existing wash-and-lube operation in place.
Historic buildings and earlier fights
The future of the site has been contentious for a while. Preservation advocates previously pushed back when the owners sought to remove two late-19th-century Eastlake-style shotgun doubles and a mid-1800s Creole cottage on the property. That dispute went before the Historic District Landmarks Commission and then the City Council in early 2024, after neighbors raised concerns about losing the historic houses. The Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans documented the appeal and the surrounding neighborhood response, putting both the row of houses and the car-wash expansion plans into the public spotlight.
What brokers say could fit here
Listing broker Parke McEnery told the paper the site could support a new building of roughly 10,000 to 15,000 square feet while still leaving room for substantial parking. That configuration, he said, is likely to appeal to small-format retail or service operators. McEnery added that buyers are more likely to pursue a full redevelopment strategy than to adapt the current car-wash layout, according to NOLA.
Broader market signals
The listing is hitting the market at a time when nearby retail anchors are shifting. Industry coverage notes that Southeastern Grocers and its Winn‑Dixie and Harveys banners have been in flux following an acquisition by Aldi and a subsequent sale of parts of the business, a multi-year conversion process that could reshape grocery options in the wider area. As Grocery Dive reports, that kind of turnover in the grocery sector is one of the factors developers will weigh when they size up retail demand for any new project at the Tchoupitoulas site…