Data Center Feasibility Study in Florida

Florida is fourth nationally for data center loans, yet the loans are small

A data center in this class is often a hosting or colocation business, not a hyperscale campus, and the Florida figures show it. The state's 65 loans, approved from FY2017 to FY2026 for $42.6 million, rank it 4 of 52 among states, although the class sits only 23 of 39 within Florida and the location quotient is 0.93x. Typical size is $275,000, which is 1.34x the class midpoint nationally, with the interquartile spread from $150,000 to $599,000. Florida borrowers therefore lean larger than peers elsewhere, but all in a range where equipment and leasehold improvements dominate.

Lenders, programs and county pattern

SBA 7(a) carried 60 of the loans and SBA 504 carried 5. Franchising plays no part, at 0.00%. Newtek Bank, National Association leads with 14 loans worth $13.5 million; Wells Fargo Bank National Association books 6 loans but only $1.0 million, and Readycap Lending, LLC has 5 loans worth $5.3 million, an average ticket far above Wells Fargo's. Miami-Dade has 13 loans, Broward 10, Hillsborough and Palm Beach 7 each, and Orange 6.

Cancellations and an uneven approval record

Florida cancellations run to at least 14.9% across FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, and adding undisbursed loans moves nothing, which leaves the ceiling at 14.9% too. No charge-off rate is published, since the disbursed cohort numbers under 30 loans; the blank is a missing figure and not a zero. The yearly record is notably irregular: FY2023 shows 0 loans and $0, while FY2024 jumps to 14 loans and $11.9 million, and FY2021 delivered 9 loans worth $12.0 million. Lenders in this class are clearly selective, and demand for approval arrives in bursts.

What a Florida data center study must settle

The study has to test who the tenants are and how long they commit, since revenue depends on a few contracts. Power cost and availability, cooling, connectivity and hurricane resilience are cost items that move the budget more than finishes do. Debt service coverage has to survive the loss of a major tenant. The appraisal faces its own problem: specialised facilities have thin comparables, so lenders may discount value.

Racks leased in shared halls are not distinguishable from hosting services here: one entry spans hosting, processing and colocation, so some borrowers in these loans own no facility.