High Line Blog

[The Chelsea Car Wash at West 14th Street & 10th Avenue, before the sign was taken down.] 

As many Chelsea dwellers, West Side Highway & Hudson River Park commuters, taxi drivers, and car wash enthusiasts may have noticed, the distinctive red Chelsea Car Wash sign has disappeared. It was removed from where it was attached to the High Line about a month ago with little fanfare. 

In the coming months, the Car Wash– one of the characteristic staples of the working West Side–will close its garage doors to make way for a new retail location on the corner of West 14th Street and 10th Avenue.

[Design rendering for a new retail location, courtesy of The Milk Group, who's developing the space with Robert K. Futterman.]

There’s currently no tenant booked, but in the next year or so, the Milk Group (as in Milk Studios, next door), aims to find a design, fashion, or other retail tenant for this 40,000-square-foot space directly underneath the High Line.  Renderings from their sales office show wrap-around windows in Car Wash-like glass. There’s also apparently a subterranean level for more retail.

More design renderings, and facts about the neighborhood– from the sales brochure–after the jump.

[Additional Design Renderings of 459 West 14th Street, courtesy of The Milk Group. Notice the bare High Line beams on the ceiling of the second rendering.]

From the sales brochure, DID YOU KNOW:

*  73,150 Cars pass the site daily

*  16,200 People visit the Chelsea Market, next door, every day

*  Chelsea Piers attracts over 4 Million visitors annually