New development and car wash coming to McKinley Commons in Mishawaka – South Bend Tribune

A once prominent retail corner in Mishawaka will soon see new business development that includes a new car wash, restaurant and retail store.

Johns Auto Spa, a Nappanee-based auto care company, is scheduled to open a new car wash and oil service on the northwest corner of McKinley Highway and Grape Road. According to a construction design release filed in late July, the total project area is proposed to be just over 6,600-square feet and, based on renderings from commercial real estate company Midland Atlantic Properties, will feature an indoor car wash and outdoor vacuum system. A representative with Johns Auto Spa did not respond to several requests for comment to detail specifically what the new car wash business will offer or to answer when construction is expected to begin and end. The new construction will replace the former Rallys restaurant that closed in January.

This isnt the first time the Elkhart County car wash business has attempted to come into the Mishawaka market. In 2018, Mishawaka council narrowly voted against rezoning an area across from the Kohls store on Grape Road for a new Johns Auto Spa business because of concerns about the businesss ability to keep oil, gas and other contaminants from leaking or running into nearby Juday Creek. Council member Ron Banicki, D-6th, whose district the proposed project would have resided in, said then, This is a good project, just not in the right spot.

Owners of the car wash business then simply looked a mile and a half down Grape Road and plans are now seemingly moving forward.

The car wash development is just one of a few other projects proposed for that corner. Specifically, shopping center McKinley Commons also is being prepared for new business development.

In a property brochure by Midland Atlantic Properties, which oversees the property, about an acre of outlier land (in what is now a parking lot) is for sale or lease for a proposed free-standing 2,800-square-foot restaurant. Kyle Nageleisen, director of leasing with Midland Atlantic Properties, said that construction for the proposed building will not begin until a tenant has been formalized and that he has been in communication with several businesses about the property but noted nothing is definite.

About 50,500 square feet of retail space also is available in the former KMart space inside the shopping center. Nageleisen said the space is currently under construction as a storefront is created and the facade is updated to make it more appealing to potential tenants. Nageleisen anticipates the facade construction to be complete in September and said he has been in communication with national and regional retailers about filling the space but, again, said nothing definitive has been established.

Even though we are talking to companies, we dont want to make it out that we have done deals, because we do not, Nageleisen said. We are still investing a big amount of money in the property to give it a great look and renovation.

Have you heard?

A new convenience store is slated to replace the former Muffler Man building in South Bend. According to a construction design release, a new convenience store will be built at 2302 S. Michigan Street. It was not immediately clear when construction will begin or when the store will open. ... Fleet Feet in Mishawaka will be hosting a fundraiser event this Saturday. The athletic shoe store at 3522 Grape Road will host a Shopping For Steve-O give-back day this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m where 10% of the days sales will be donated to the Racing For Steve-O Foundation.

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New development and car wash coming to McKinley Commons in Mishawaka - South Bend Tribune