An Ogden Avenue car wash, which has sat, abandoned, for years, will be razed and turned into a parking lot, according to the property’s new owner.
Ricardo Carranza, who bought the former Eric’s Car Wash at 8837 Ogden Ave. in April for $110,000, told the Landmark last week that he hopes to have the building torn down by the end of the summer.
“The architect is working with the city as we speak,” said Carranza, who owns Rick’s Insurance Agency, an insurance/tax preparation business directly across the street at 8836 Ogden Ave. “The idea is to tear it down and make it a parking lot for my [insurance] business.”
The car wash has not been in operation since roughly 2008 and has become an eyesore along a not particularly attractive stretch of Ogden Avenue that features a vacant fast-food business and a pair of long-term-occupancy motels.
“The city should be glad someone is trying to do something with it,” said Carranza.
Keith Sbiral, who is Brookfield’s assistant manager and head of the building and planning department, said he agrees with that statement.
“Getting rid of that car wash would be a huge plus,” Sbiral said.
Sbiral said he has not been in contact with Carranza about demolishing the car wash but said it likely would be a routine request. It’s not likely the parking lot would trigger the need for a permit from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, since the property is already completely paved over.
According to the village’s zoning code, parking lots are permitted uses in the Ogden Avenue commercial district, so constructing such a facility would not trigger the need for a public hearing.
Carranza has been operating a tax preparation/insurance business on Ogden Avenue for the past five years after buying Garcia Travel and Income Tax from the former owner. He also operates branches of his insurance business in Palatine and Carpentersville.
