Worked Example: SBA 7(a) Flex-Serve Car Wash Feasibility Study in Texas
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Texas, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Corpus Christi, TX holds rank 206 of 928 by loans, with 358 approvals for FY2017 to FY2026, $284.9 million gross. Ticket size in Corpus Christi leans high, with $321,500 at the median, 1.55x the national median. The middle half of Corpus Christi approvals runs from $100,000 up to $929,250. In Corpus Christi, a request far outside $100,000 to $929,250 will draw questions. The Corpus Christi study should answer them early in Corpus Christi.
In Corpus Christi, SBA 7(a) accounts for 328 loans, against 30 under SBA 504. 19.0% of the Corpus Christi loans went to franchised businesses. Corpus Christi named classes stand hotel and motel with 24, limited-service restaurant with 16 and full-service restaurant with 15. The Corpus Christi total of 358 also contains 218 loans that no named class captures in Corpus Christi. By project county, Corpus Christi loans fall in Nueces County, TX with 269, San Patricio County, TX with 50 and Aransas County, TX with 39 in Corpus Christi.
In Corpus Christi, this section reflects SBA's file in Corpus Christi view of loans a firm holds or once held in Corpus Christi, per holder field, and claim nothing about requirements. Corpus Christi holders should be read that way. Corpus Christi SBA 7(a) holders at the top: Wells Fargo Bank National Association with 38 loans worth $4.9 million; Prosperity Bank with 26 loans worth $9.8 million; PNC Bank, National Association with 20 loans worth $8.6 million. In Corpus Christi, SBA 504 holders are led by Capital Certified Development Corporation with 17 loans worth $17.7 million; LiftFund, Inc. with 6 loans worth $8.8 million. The first holder in Corpus Christi sets the pace. Even so, a Corpus Christi borrower may take a study elsewhere in Corpus Christi.
Among FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, Corpus Christi cancellation after approval is 13.2%, a floor. A Corpus Christi ceiling of 15.4% treats unfunded loans as cancelled. Corpus Christi charge-offs to date, a floor, run 3.8% for the 133 loans disbursed from FY2017 to FY2021; 3.8% came within five years. FY2024, at 52 loans, tops the printed yearly counts for Corpus Christi. Files place a loan in Corpus Christi using the county of the project, matched under the July 2023 delineation in Corpus Christi, which means some loan whose county has no match sits in none of the areas in Corpus Christi. The 358 loans in Corpus Christi, TX include the ones outside every named class here.
First, prove demand in Corpus Christi. Size the real catchment of one site in Corpus Christi, not the metropolitan area average, and keep the forecast cautious in Corpus Christi. Next, price the Corpus Christi project. $321,500 is the median ticket, a guide in Corpus Christi, still quotes and comps must drive it, and contingency kept apart in Corpus Christi. Corpus Christi debt service coverage ties it together. Test coverage at the requested size as well as under a downside case, naming the cushion left in Corpus Christi. An independent Corpus Christi appraisal comes last, so any rent figure has to be documented for Corpus Christi. In Corpus Christi, 358 loans spread over many neighbourhoods, and a Corpus Christi study must say which it targets. With Corpus Christi at 1.55x the national median in Corpus Christi, projects run large in Corpus Christi. The study must justify its project for Corpus Christi against $321,500.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 358 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $284.9 million |
| Median loan | $321,500 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $929,250 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 328 |
| SBA 504 loans | 30 |
| Franchise share of loans | 19.0% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 206 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.55x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 13.2% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 15.4% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 3.8% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 3.8% |
| Loans in that cohort | 133 |
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 Corpus Christi, TX Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 38 | $24.1 million |
| FY2018 | 29 | $18.3 million |
| FY2019 | 35 | $24.2 million |
| FY2020 | 26 | $18.6 million |
| FY2021 | 29 | $24.5 million |
| FY2022 | 24 | $26.3 million |
| FY2023 | 40 | $30.1 million |
| FY2024 | 52 | $37.8 million |
| FY2025 | 50 | $42.8 million |
| FY2026 | 35 | $38.2 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 218 |
| Hotel and motel | 24 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 16 |
| Full-service restaurant | 15 |
| Self storage | 12 |
| Fitness center | 11 |
| Dental office | 9 |
| Car wash | 8 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 8 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 7 |
| Beauty salon | 6 |
| Veterinary clinic | 5 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Capital Certified Development Corporation | 17 | $17.7 million |
| LiftFund, Inc. | 6 | $8.8 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 38 | $4.9 million |
| Prosperity Bank | 26 | $9.8 million |
| PNC Bank, National Association | 20 | $8.6 million |
| Northeast Bank (ME) | 19 | $1.9 million |
| Live Oak Banking Company | 14 | $15.6 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.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Nueces County, TX | 269 |
| San Patricio County, TX | 50 |
| Aransas County, TX | 39 |
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-18580.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Texas, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Corpus Christi, TX 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.
Start with the data.
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