Worked Example: SBA 504 Gas Station Feasibility Study in Illinois
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a gas station project in Illinois, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
Feasibility Study Data for the Champaign-Urbana, IL Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Champaign-Urbana, IL Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
The Champaign-Urbana record in brief
Across Champaign-Urbana, SBA's files list 254 approved loans over FY2017 to FY2026, totalling $155.3 million of gross dollars. Champaign-Urbana sits within the full set of areas, counted by loans, in position 269 of 928. Half of Champaign-Urbana loans, the middle ones, runs from $112,500 to $633,250, around a typical loan of $300,000; and the median sits at 1.44x the national median. By program, Champaign-Urbana shows 212 loans under 7(a) and 42 under 504. Franchised units took 18.9% of the record.
Champaign-Urbana: who and where
Separately, within the classes we list for Champaign-Urbana, full-service restaurant is largest with 22 loans, ahead of hotel and motel, 20 loans and limited-service restaurant (12). A further 151 loans in Champaign-Urbana sit outside every class. By county, Champaign County, IL leads with 235 loans, and behind it come Piatt County, IL (12) and Ford County, IL (7).
Champaign-Urbana: lenders on record
Lenders shown for Champaign-Urbana come from SBA's own Champaign-Urbana records of the 254 SBA loans in Champaign-Urbana, whoever holds or held them; those files show each holding though say nothing of lender appetite. For the record, under 7(a) in Champaign-Urbana, the largest holders are Busey Bank at 21 loans and $15.8 million, ahead of Northeast Bank (ME) (17 loans, $3.2 million). For 504 lending around Champaign County, IL, SBA names Small Business Growth Corporation, with 33 loans for $30.0 million. A borrower near Champaign County, IL can ask the Champaign-Urbana holder Busey Bank or any other Champaign-Urbana holder near Champaign County, IL what paperwork it requires, then write the Champaign-Urbana study to answer it.
Champaign-Urbana: outcomes and calendar
Among Champaign-Urbana approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, at least 9.6% ended in cancellation after approval in Champaign-Urbana, which is a floor; the full Champaign-Urbana share may be higher. Separately, the charge-off rate for Champaign-Urbana borrowers is not shown in the record, given that too few Champaign-Urbana loans were paid out. That silence, near Champaign County, IL, must never be read as no losses. Worth noting, year by year, Champaign-Urbana was strongest in FY2025 at 38 loans and $12.7 million, and dipped to its lowest in FY2018 at 20 loans and $10.1 million.
Champaign-Urbana: what a study proves
The Champaign-Urbana study starts with customers: who shops in Champaign County, IL, who travels in Piatt County, IL, measured against Champaign-Urbana as a whole, and what gap the 22 full-service restaurant loans leave. On cost: $300,000 is the Champaign-Urbana median and $112,500 to $633,250 the middle half, so a Champaign County, IL site must justify its budget against that $300,000 median. Repayment: Champaign-Urbana repayment outlasts a sluggish year against with the 9.6% floor for cancellation and the charge-off rate for Champaign-Urbana, which is also omitted on a thin cohort. An appraisal in Champaign-Urbana must support the figure the loan uses. Champaign-Urbana is cut from the 2023 July area list; a file whose home county fails to match drops out of each area, Champaign-Urbana among them, but the totals cover loans outside the class list.
SBA loans in the Champaign-Urbana, IL Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 254 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $155.3 million |
| Median loan | $300,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $112,500 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $633,250 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 212 |
| SBA 504 loans | 42 |
| Franchise share of loans | 18.9% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 269 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.44x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 9.6% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | withheld |
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 Champaign-Urbana, IL Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 23 | $10.7 million |
| FY2018 | 20 | $10.1 million |
| FY2019 | 23 | $15.9 million |
| FY2020 | 20 | $20.1 million |
| FY2021 | 26 | $16.6 million |
| FY2022 | 21 | $21.1 million |
| FY2023 | 27 | $13.3 million |
| FY2024 | 28 | $22.6 million |
| FY2025 | 38 | $12.7 million |
| FY2026 | 28 | $12.3 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 151 |
| Full-service restaurant | 22 |
| Hotel and motel | 20 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 12 |
| Fitness center | 6 |
| Child care center | 6 |
| Liquor store | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Small Business Growth Corporation | 33 | $30.0 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Busey Bank | 21 | $15.8 million |
| Northeast Bank (ME) | 17 | $3.2 million |
| The Fisher National Bank | 12 | $2.4 million |
| Byline Bank | 10 | $9.5 million |
| The Huntington National Bank | 9 | $2.0 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 |
|---|---|
| Champaign County, IL | 235 |
| Piatt County, IL | 12 |
| Ford County, IL | 7 |
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-16580.
Related feasibility study pages
- Illinois feasibility studies for SBA and USDA loans
- Feasibility Study Data by Metro Area
- SBA feasibility study consultant
- Feasibility Study Data for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Rockford, IL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Springfield, IL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Peoria, IL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Bloomington, IL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Decatur, IL Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Ottawa, IL Micro Area
Worked examples
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Champaign-Urbana, IL 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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