Feasibility Study Data for the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

How big the Cape Coral-Fort Myers record is

Across Cape Coral-Fort Myers, the SBA loan files carry 1,562 loans over FY2017 through FY2026, totalling $1.06 billion in gross dollars. Cape Coral-Fort Myers sits within all such areas nationwide, counted by loans, at 69 of 928. The middle half of Cape Coral-Fort Myers loans falls between $120,050 and $775,000, around a typical loan of $325,000; which puts the median at 1.56x the nationwide median. By program, Cape Coral-Fort Myers shows 1,373 loans under 7(a) against 189 under 504. Franchises make up 15.0% of approvals.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers: who and where

Also, across the named classes we track for Cape Coral-Fort Myers, full-service restaurant stands on top with 87 loans, then limited-service restaurant with 33 and car wash, 30 loans. Also 1,156 loans in Cape Coral-Fort Myers fall outside the classes. Every loan in Cape Coral-Fort Myers sits in Lee County, FL, at 1,562 loans, which makes our work around Cape Coral-Fort Myers a matter of one county only.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers: names SBA lists

Holders named for Cape Coral-Fort Myers are copied from SBA's published Cape Coral-Fort Myers records of the 1,562 approved loans in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, naming each current or past holder; the records assign every entry yet say nothing of what lenders require. Also, on the 7(a) side around Lee County, FL, the biggest holders are The Huntington National Bank ($88.0 million across 217 loans); next, Wells Fargo Bank National Association (78 loans, $10.9 million). Beyond that, among 504 loans in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, the entries read Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc., with 109 loans for $113.7 million and Florida Business Development Corporation, with 50 loans for $46.1 million. The holder rows are context only; the lender the borrower uses sets what a Cape Coral-Fort Myers study must contain.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers: outcomes and calendar

Looking at Cape Coral-Fort Myers approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, at least 12.0% ended in cancellation after approval in Cape Coral-Fort Myers, which is a floor; the real Cape Coral-Fort Myers rate may be higher. For the record, among disbursed Cape Coral-Fort Myers loans approved from FY2017 through FY2021, 8.7% show as charged off as of today, another floor; 5.7% ended in charge-off within five years, within a base of 574 loans. Year by year, Cape Coral-Fort Myers reached its high in FY2025 at 230 loans and $163.5 million, and bottomed out in FY2022 at 120 loans and $102.0 million.

Cape Coral-Fort Myers: what a study tests

For Cape Coral-Fort Myers, begin with demand: who lives in Lee County, FL, measured against Cape Coral-Fort Myers as a whole, and how much room 87 full-service restaurant loans leave. On cost: $325,000 is the Cape Coral-Fort Myers median and $120,050 to $775,000 the central range, so a Lee County, FL site must justify its budget against that $325,000 midpoint. Then coverage: Cape Coral-Fort Myers coverage outlasts a weak year against the 12.0% floor for cancellation plus the 8.7% floor for charge-off. An appraisal in Cape Coral-Fort Myers has to support the worth financed. Cape Coral-Fort Myers applies the 2023 July definition; any loan whose project county has no match falls out of each area, Cape Coral-Fort Myers no exception, while the totals count loans outside the named classes.

SBA loans in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY20261,562
Gross dollars approved$1.06 billion
Median loan$325,000
Middle half of loans, from$120,050
Middle half of loans, to$775,000
SBA 7(a) loans1,373
SBA 504 loans189
Franchise share of loans15.0%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans69 of 928
Median loan against the national median1.56x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)12.0%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)14.7%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)8.7%
Charged off within five years of approval5.7%
Loans in that cohort574

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 Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL Metro Area, by fiscal year

050100150200250FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 131Loans, FY2018: 124Loans, FY2019: 148Loans, FY2020: 141Loans, FY2021: 122Loans, FY2022: 120Loans, FY2023: 133Loans, FY2024: 218Loans, FY2025: 230Loans, FY2026: 195
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY2017131$83.0 million
FY2018124$56.6 million
FY2019148$81.9 million
FY2020141$89.4 million
FY2021122$92.0 million
FY2022120$102.0 million
FY2023133$89.8 million
FY2024218$150.7 million
FY2025230$163.5 million
FY2026195$155.5 million

Loans by asset class

Asset classLoans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes1,156
Full-service restaurant87
Limited-service restaurant33
Car wash30
Fitness center29
Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck)23
Child care center23
Hotel and motel21
Medical office (physicians)20
Rehabilitation and therapy clinic17
Dental office16
Veterinary clinic16
Coffee shop and snack bar16
Beauty salon13
Gas station and truck stop11
Self storage11
Assisted living (without nursing care)7
Liquor store7
Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries)6

Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc.109$113.7 million
Florida Business Development Corporation50$46.1 million
Independent Development Services Corporation17$19.6 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
The Huntington National Bank217$88.0 million
Wells Fargo Bank National Association78$10.9 million
Newtek Bank, National Association65$20.1 million
TD Bank, National Association55$10.1 million
Live Oak Banking Company50$81.9 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

CountyLoans
Lee County, FL1,562

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-15980.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL 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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