Assisted Living Feasibility Study in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area

Portland-area care homes without on-site nursing look heavier here than almost anywhere else in the country. The area is 7 of 321 metro and micro areas for this class, and its location quotient of 2.65x says the class carries a far heavier weight than it has in national lending. The 68 approvals between FY2017 and FY2026 added up to $59.3 million, though within the area itself the class places 8 of 39. The median loan of $622,300 is 0.82x the class's national median, so these are plentiful rather than outsized notes.

Across the Columbia, with one dominant bank

Clark County, WA leads with 29 loans, ahead of Clackamas County, OR at 18, Multnomah County, OR at 12 and Washington County, OR at 9. Oregon and Washington license care homes separately, so a sponsor on either side of the Columbia is working under a different rulebook. Columbia Bank (OR) is listed with 20 loans and $16.7 million, easily the largest presence, followed by Commonwealth Business Bank with 5 loans and $4.4 million. Half the loans fall between $345,500 and $885,000. SBA shows a franchise share of 0.00% for the cell, which fits a field of owner-operated homes.

A volume pattern that peaked mid-series

FY2017 started strongly at 11 loans and $5.7 million, then FY2019 fell to 5 loans and $2.6 million. Recovery came with 7 loans and $7.9 million in FY2021, 8 loans and $10.0 million in FY2022 and 10 loans and $6.9 million in FY2023. FY2024 recorded 6 loans for $3.3 million, while FY2025 and FY2026 each held 7 loans, at $9.0 million and $9.1 million. Cancellation after approval is at least 14.8% for FY2017 to FY2024 approvals.

What the blanks mean, and what a study here must test

The program split, the stricter cancellation figure, the charge-off rate and the FY2018 and FY2020 rows stay blank at SBA because too few loans support them; blank is not zero, and this page gives them no number. Counties come from the July 2023 area map. A study should separate memory care, a use that lacks any code, from the assisted living without nursing that this class measures, and homes with nursing are indexed elsewhere. It should count licensed beds around the site on each side of the river, test private-pay incomes against realistic monthly rates, price conversion or construction against the $622,300 median, and run debt service on a slow fill. An appraiser will value the licensed-bed income stream and not merely the building.