Worked Example: SBA 504 RV and Boat Storage Feasibility Study in New Jersey
Worked example. The facility is a ground-up, 300-space yard for recreational vehicles and boats in Ocean County, New Jersey.
Feasibility Study Data for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
How big the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton record is
Across Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, SBA's own files list 1,302 approved loans over FY2017 through FY2026, totalling $591.9 million in gross dollars. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton ranks across every metro and micro area, on volume, in position 77 of 928. The middle half of Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton loans sits between $44,775 and $526,500, with a middle figure of $150,000; which sets the median at 0.72x the nationwide median. In Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton the program mix is 1,232 loans in 7(a) against 70 in 504. Franchised units took 12.1% of the record.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: classes and counties
Next, within the tracked classes we name for Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, the leader is full-service restaurant with 77 loans, followed by limited-service restaurant, 43 loans and child care center, 35 loans. Also 929 loans in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton belong to no named class. By county, Lehigh County, PA holds 558 loans, followed by Northampton County, PA (459), Warren County, NJ (220) and Carbon County, PA (65).
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: lenders on record
Institutions shown for Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton stem from SBA's released Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton records of the 1,302 approvals in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, held now or earlier; those files tie every loan yet settle nothing about how lenders underwrite. Separately, in the 7(a) program near Lehigh County, PA, the largest holders are TD Bank, National Association, holding 231 loans worth $25.4 million; next, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company, with 70 loans for $9.4 million. Notably, on 504 in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, the holders include Empire State Certified Development Corporation, holding 26 loans worth $39.4 million, followed by South Eastern Economic Development Company of Pennsylvania, holding 17 loans worth $12.0 million. An applicant in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton is free to ask the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton lender TD Bank, National Association or other Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton holders near Lehigh County, PA what evidence it wants, then shape the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton study to meet those answers.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: what followed approval
Among Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton approvals from FY2017 through FY2024, at least 14.0% were cancelled after approval in Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, which is a floor; the real Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton figure can only be higher. For the record, among disbursed Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton loans approved in FY2017 through FY2021, 4.0% show as charged off by now, another floor; 2.7% were written off inside the first five years, across a set of 479 loans. By year, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton reached its high in FY2025 at 195 loans and $98.6 million, and was weakest in FY2020 at 79 loans and $39.6 million.
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton: what a borrower checks
Around Lehigh County, PA, demand comes first: who shops in Lehigh County, PA, who shops in Northampton County, PA, measured against Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton as a whole, and what gap the 77 full-service restaurant loans leave. On cost: $150,000 is the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton median and $44,775 to $526,500 the middle half, so a Lehigh County, PA site must price itself against that $150,000 benchmark. Then coverage: Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton repayment withstands a slow year against the 14.0% rate of cancellation plus the 4.0% charge-off rate. The Lehigh County, PA appraisal must support the figure assumed. Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton adopts the July 2023 map; a case whose county entry fails to match is missing from every other area, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton among them, while the totals keep loans not in the class list.
SBA loans in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 1,302 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $591.9 million |
| Median loan | $150,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $44,775 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $526,500 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 1,232 |
| SBA 504 loans | 70 |
| Franchise share of loans | 12.1% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 77 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.72x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 14.0% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 15.6% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 4.0% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 2.7% |
| Loans in that cohort | 479 |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA loans approved in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 126 | $43.2 million |
| FY2018 | 119 | $42.3 million |
| FY2019 | 129 | $44.0 million |
| FY2020 | 79 | $39.6 million |
| FY2021 | 113 | $63.5 million |
| FY2022 | 128 | $62.7 million |
| FY2023 | 128 | $78.2 million |
| FY2024 | 159 | $54.7 million |
| FY2025 | 195 | $98.6 million |
| FY2026 | 126 | $65.1 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 929 |
| Full-service restaurant | 77 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 43 |
| Child care center | 35 |
| Fitness center | 31 |
| Beauty salon | 28 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 21 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 18 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 15 |
| Liquor store | 15 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 12 |
| Hotel and motel | 11 |
| Dental office | 10 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 8 |
| Grocery store | 8 |
| Nonresidential lessor (flex, office and retail investor buildings) | 6 |
| Caterers (includes banquet halls with catering staff) | 6 |
| Car wash | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Empire State Certified Development Corporation | 26 | $39.4 million |
| South Eastern Economic Development Company of Pennsylvania | 17 | $12.0 million |
| NEPA Alliance Business Finance Corporation | 12 | $18.3 million |
| Trenton Business Assistance Corporation | 8 | $13.1 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| TD Bank, National Association | 231 | $25.4 million |
| Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company | 70 | $9.4 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 64 | $7.0 million |
| PNC Bank, National Association | 53 | $13.7 million |
| Beacon Bank and Trust | 51 | $45.2 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
Where the loans are, by county
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Lehigh County, PA | 558 |
| Northampton County, PA | 459 |
| Warren County, NJ | 220 |
| Carbon County, PA | 65 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-10900.
Related feasibility study pages
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Feasibility study data by asset class in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area
Worked examples
Worked Example: USDA B&I Gas Station Acquisition and Expansion Feasibility Study in Pennsylvania
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a gas station project in Pennsylvania, financed with a USDA Business and Industry guaranteed loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
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