Car Wash Feasibility Study in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area

Sizing up 160 Atlanta loans

Over FY2017 to FY2026, Atlanta businesses in car wash received 160 approvals worth $324.4 million. A typical loan is $1.9 million; the middle half covers $732,375 to $3.0 million. Against the class nationally, Atlanta, GA's median is 2.07x of the national median, above it.

Atlanta ranks 3 of 458 for car wash

7(a) is the larger program in Atlanta: 125 loans in 7(a), 35 in 504. The 125 7(a) loans around Atlanta, GA carry room for working capital; the 35 504 loans are held to fixed assets. Branded units account for 3.1% of Atlanta loans in this class. Place in the national table: 3 of 458. Place among Atlanta classes: 12 of 39. The Atlanta quotient is 2.06x, meaning the class taking a bigger share of Atlanta lending than nationally, hinting at depth and rivalry alike. The top counties lead: Gwinnett County, GA (29), Fulton County, GA (27) and Cobb County, GA (16) loans.

Lenders and floors behind 160 Atlanta loans

By year, FY2018 leads with 26 loans and $48.7 million, while FY2023 is lowest with 16 and $33.1 million. Atlanta years with a handful of car wash loans are held back from the series; held back is not zero. SBA's 7(a) file for car wash names Metro City Bank with 34 loans for $89.6 million; Georgia's Own Credit Union with 10 loans for $19.7 million; Open Bank with 6 loans for $16.3 million. Metro City Bank shows 34 loans only because SBA names it holder across Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell; the $89.6 million says nothing about lending standards. Atlanta 504 entries: 14 loans and $16.8 million at Florida Business Development Corporation and 7 loans and $10.0 million at Small Business Access Partners, Inc. The Atlanta, GA cancellation floor is 10.9%, while its ceiling is withheld, not zero. No charge-off floor prints for car wash in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, where 160 loans leave the cohort thin, and the gap is not zero losses.

What a Atlanta, GA study must test at $1.9 million

The market comes first: in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, car wash sales depend on traffic count past the lot, competing washes along the corridor and wash volume, and no count of 160 loans settles those. Cost comes next: a Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell budget must carry vacuum and detailing areas, tunnel or bay equipment and utility connections, each priced against Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell quotes. Stress Atlanta earnings with a $732,375 loan and a $3.0 million loan, then check where coverage weakens. Atlanta appraisers will value weather-sensitive earnings, wash equipment and utility connections one at a time, so the Atlanta study should do the same. The $324.4 million Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell file is a yardstick around Atlanta, not a forecast, and promises no Atlanta borrower approval.

What the Atlanta figures cannot say about car wash

Each of the 160 loans in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell is placed by project county. County names, Gwinnett County, GA among them, are matched to Atlanta using the July 2023 delineation. Car washes, truck washes and mobile washes share one code, so the 160 loans in Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell blend all three. Atlanta cancellation covers FY2017 to FY2024 approvals for Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell; charge-offs cover FY2017 to FY2021 disbursements.