Brown Bear Car Wash paid $8.1 million in June 2026 for the Elephant Car Wash property at 12900 NE Bel-Red Road, near Bellevue's Wilburton neighborhood.

The Seattle-based chain plans to renovate the site and reopen it as its newest Eastside location, according to 425 Business.

No opening date has been set. As of the June 2026 sale, renovations were expected to finish by the end of the year.

The acquisition gives Brown Bear a foothold on the Bel-Red corridor, a stretch of Bellevue that has seen steady commercial investment in recent years.

For drivers who used the Elephant wash at that address, the change means a new operator and a temporary closure while the building is updated.

Brown Bear Vice President Lance Odermat said in June that rising costs are pushing car wash companies to buy existing sites rather than build from scratch.

"Increasing construction costs and issues with finding appropriately zoned land made existing car wash properties more valuable," Odermat told the Puget Sound Business Journal, as cited by MyNorthwest.

Odermat is the son of Victor Odermat, a former U.S. Marine who founded Brown Bear in Seattle in 1957 with a single location.

The company now describes itself as Washington's largest car wash network with more than 50 locations statewide, according to its website. The 425 Business report from June put the count at more than 45.

The Bellevue deal is not the only recent Elephant Car Wash property to change hands. On Sept. 11, Classy Chassis Car Wash purchased Elephant's Gig Harbor location for $4.85 million, according to MyNorthwest.

Elephant Car Wash still operates 15 locations across the Puget Sound area. The chain closed its flagship site near the Space Needle and its original SoDo location in 2020. Both had operated for decades.

Brown Bear has not announced an opening date for the Bel-Red Road site. The renovation timeline points to a finish before the end of 2026.