Feasibility Study Data for the Bakersfield-Delano, CA Metro Area

Fuel and lodging before restaurants

In Bakersfield-Delano the largest named asset class is gas station and truck stop, 101 loans, followed by hotel and motel at 56, limited-service restaurant at 49 and full-service restaurant at 44. That ordering, travel and fuel ahead of dining, is what the metro shows that a state or national class list would not. The whole record sits in one county, Kern County, CA, which accounts for all 1,178 loans and $861.0 million in approvals for FY2017 to FY2026, a rank of 83 of 928. Another 729 loans belong to no tracked class.

Tickets run large. A median of $345,000 equals 1.66x the national level, and loans in the central half begin at $104,250 and reach $901,125. Franchise brands appear in 14.1% of loans. Of the total, 942 are 7(a) and 236 are 504, and the 504 financing is routed overwhelmingly through one institution: Cen Cal Business Finance Group holds 162 loans worth $124.8 million, against 18 for The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation and 11 for California Statewide Certified Development Corporation.

Holders in SBA's records

These institutions are those SBA lists as holding or having held the loans; the names describe where loans sit, and we say nothing about what any lender will ask of a borrower. Wells Fargo Bank National Association holds 109 7(a) loans yet only $10.4 million, a small-ticket pattern, while U.S. Bank, National Association holds 93 worth $17.9 million. In contrast Commonwealth Bank has 61 loans worth $47.5 million and Celtic Bank Corporation 49 worth $57.5 million, which are larger per loan. JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association appears with 65.

The floors here are on the heavy side. Cancellation after approval accounts for 11.1% or more of approvals through FY2024, and 12.5% if undisbursed loans are added. Charge-offs reach 7.5% to date and 4.9% within five years across the 492 loans funded in the earlier approval years. Open loans may raise both. Approvals peaked at 159 loans and $114.5 million in FY2025.

What a Bakersfield study has to settle

A study for a fuel, lodging or retail project should test traffic and trade-area demand on the specific route rather than the county, check whether competing supply already exists, and show that debt service survives a charge-off floor of this size. Costs belong beside the sizeable loans that are normal in Kern, and the appraisal must carry the assumed value. The 2023 delineation fixes the county lines. This page serves lenders and borrowers and offers no assurance of approval.