More than a month after Quiroga’s Car Wash launched a neighborhood petition seeking help reopening its longtime Southport Corridor location, the future of the property remains unresolved.
The family-owned car wash at 3448 N. Southport Avenue has been unable to operate normally following a dispute with the City of Chicago over access to the alley behind the property.
According to Quiroga’s, City Hall has declined to renew the business’s alley-access permission since June 2025. The issue is particularly important at the Southport property because vehicles traditionally entered the car wash from Southport Avenue and exited through the alley behind the building.
Without that access, the business says it has effectively been unable to operate.
In September, Quiroga’s began circulating a petition asking 44th Ward residents to support restoring the alley access and allowing the Southport location to reopen.
Quiroga’s Still Calls the Closure Temporary
Despite the extended shutdown, there are currently several signs that the owners have not abandoned the Southport location.
Quiroga’s own website continues to list 3448 N. Southport Avenue as one of its two Chicago locations and now specifically labels the location “TEMPORARILY CLOSED.”
The company’s second location at 2036 W. Grand Avenue remains open.
Quiroga Corp., the business operating the car washes, also continues to list Southport as one of its locations in public business records. Rocky Quiroga is identified as president of the company.
That suggests the current effort remains focused on reopening the Southport operation rather than announcing a permanent closure.
No Sale or Redevelopment Has Been Announced
With the car wash sitting closed on one of the busiest stretches of the Southport Corridor, questions have naturally emerged about whether the property could eventually be sold or redeveloped.
So far, however, there is no public indication that a redevelopment project is moving forward at the site.
A review of publicly available real estate, zoning and development information did not uncover a recently announced sale, demolition permit, zoning application or developer tied to the property.
The property also does not appear to be publicly marketed for sale.
That does not mean conversations could not be taking place privately, but there is currently no publicly visible evidence that a developer or buyer has taken control of the site.
A Small Property With Significant Development Potential
If the car wash is ultimately unable to reopen, the property would almost certainly attract development interest.
Public property records describe the site at 3448 N. Southport as approximately 3,120 square feet, or about 0.07 acres, with a building dating to around 1919.
The property’s last publicly recorded sale appears to have occurred in June 2000 for $450,000.
Today, the site occupies a particularly valuable piece of the Southport Corridor, surrounded by restaurants, national retailers, residential development and heavy pedestrian traffic.
Its relatively small size would likely limit the scale of any future project. But a redevelopment incorporating ground-floor commercial space with residential units above would be consistent with many of the newer infill projects that have appeared throughout Lakeview.
For now, however, that remains speculation rather than an announced plan.
The Bigger Question Is Whether the Car Wash Can Still Function at the Site
The unusual configuration of the property may ultimately determine its future.
Unlike a typical storefront, the Southport car wash depends on vehicles moving through the property. Cars historically entered from Southport Avenue, passed through the wash and exited into the alley.
If permanent alley access cannot be restored, operating a car wash from the building could become extremely difficult regardless of whether the owners want to remain.
That potentially puts the property at a crossroads.
If the City and Quiroga’s reach an agreement, the longtime neighborhood business could reopen.
If they do not, the owners could eventually face a choice between finding another viable use for the building or selling the property.
A Longtime Southport Holdout
Quiroga’s has operated on Southport for decades, dating back to around the late 1980s or early 1990s.
During that period, the surrounding corridor has changed dramatically.
Southport Avenue has evolved from a largely neighborhood-oriented commercial street into one of Chicago’s best-known shopping and dining districts, bringing national retailers, new apartment developments and increasingly valuable real estate.
The car wash has remained one of the corridor’s more unusual longtime businesses throughout that transformation.
Its continued presence is also a reminder of an earlier era of Southport Avenue, before much of the current retail development arrived.
What Happens Next?
For now, there are essentially three possible outcomes.
The first — and clearly the one Quiroga’s is pursuing — is that the City restores alley access and the Southport car wash reopens.
A second possibility would be repurposing the existing property for another commercial use if vehicle access cannot be restored.
And the third would be an eventual sale and redevelopment of the property.
At this point, there is no evidence that either of those latter options is actively underway.
The most concrete indication of the owners’ intentions remains Quiroga’s own website, which continues to describe the Southport location as temporarily closed rather than permanently closed.
Until the alley-access dispute is resolved, however, one of Southport Avenue’s longest-running businesses — and one of the corridor’s more intriguing potential development sites — remains in limbo.
