Feasibility Study Data for the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area

A very large book with a wide spread of loan sizes

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin is the third largest metro or micro area in the country by number of SBA approvals, 3 of 928, with 20,063 loans and $11.17 billion of approved dollars across FY2017 to FY2026. What sets the area apart from most others is not a single outsized deal but the breadth of the ticket range. At $240,000, the median loan is 1.15x the national figure, while the central half stretches from $80,000 to $576,000. A project here is therefore compared against a lender population that has funded everything from a small shop fit-out to a mid-sized owner-occupied building.

Most approvals, 14,541, fall outside the asset classes this site tracks, so the class list describes only a minority of the book. Within it, full-service restaurant leads with 1,146 loans, limited-service restaurant follows with 722, then child care center at 422 and fitness center at 390. Hotel and motel shows 263 loans and self storage 43, while skilled nursing and hospital sit at 9 and 8. Cook County, IL accounts for 10,587 loans, DuPage County, IL for 2,763 and Lake County, IL for 1,557, with Lake County, IN at 823 and Porter County, IN at 422 on the Indiana side. Franchise brands make up 11.9% of loans, and 7(a) carries 17,131 of them against 2,932 under 504.

Reading the lender tables

The names below are taken from SBA's files, which record the institution now holding each loan. They locate loans on a map and nothing more; they are not a verdict on any lender's habits. Among 7(a) loans, The Huntington National Bank is holder of 3,924 worth $854.4 million, with U.S. Bank, National Association at 1,257 and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association at 1,203. Byline Bank holds 1,029 loans but $1.21 billion, a far higher dollar total per loan than the others. Among 504 holders, Small Business Growth Corporation leads with 1,533 loans and $1.36 billion, ahead of SomerCor 504, Inc. at 965 loans and $881.2 million. A borrower can see who has handled comparable work nearby and then ask each institution directly what it wants to read.

Cancellation after approval reached 12.5% or more for approvals in FY2017 through FY2024, the floor, while treating undisbursed loans as cancelled gives 14.5%, the ceiling. For the 7,931 loans of the FY2017 to FY2021 funded cohort, charge-offs stand at 6.2% to date and at 3.5% inside five years; open loans could still add to either figure. Volume dipped to 1,501 loans in FY2020 and climbed to 2,790 loans and $1.43 billion in FY2025.

Questions for a Chicago-area study

Any feasibility study for a Chicago-area project has to start with the specific county, since lending is not spread evenly across the metro, and test demand against supply in that submarket rather than against the region. Construction cost and the realistic ramp come next, then debt service coverage that survives the cancellation and charge-off floors above, and an appraisal that supports the value the loan assumes. Counties are drawn from the July 2023 delineation, and a loan from outside it counts toward no area. These records are offered to lenders and borrowers, and none of them forecasts how a given request will fare.