Fitness Center Feasibility Study in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about fitness center lending in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Where Atlanta stands for this class

The SBA files file 276 loans for fitness centers in Atlanta across FY2017 to FY2026, totaling $163.5 million in gross dollars approved. Most borrowers received amounts between $199,600 and $625,500. Inside the country Atlanta ranks 8 of 608 inside metro and micro areas for these approvals, on this record, and within the area the class stands 7 of 39 within the classes in SBA's files. The location quotient is 1.06x, so gyms and fitness centers take a slightly larger portion of Atlanta loans than the national mix. Loan size here is anchored by $366,000; set against the class's national midpoint, as a rule, that is a ratio of 1.41x, so loans run larger here.

Programs, franchises and lenders in Atlanta

Fitness center applicants in Atlanta used 7(a) 257 times and 504 19 times, a difference an applicant should weigh when picking a program. Across 504 lending, the largest holder is Small Business Access Partners, Inc., with 5 loans and $8.7 million; Capital Partners Certified Development Company ranks second at 5. Franchise-affiliated borrowers make up 65.2% of fitness center approvals here. Under 7(a), 46 loans sit with The Huntington National Bank, 11 with SouthState Bank, National Association and 9 with Wells Fargo Bank National Association. The institutions above are the current holders of their loans in SBA's files; that tells a reader where the paper sits and nothing more.

Atlanta counties and fiscal years

Project counties rank Fulton County, GA first (89), Cobb County, GA next (50) and DeKalb County, GA third (35). Volume was highest in FY2019, with 37 loans worth $23.6 million, and lowest in FY2017, with 18 loans worth $11.5 million. Loan Analytics withholds FY2020 and FY2024 for gyms and fitness centers in Atlanta because they rest on too few loans, so those years should not be read as empty.

Floors that may only rise for gyms and fitness centers

No fewer than 12.3% of fitness center approved approvals in Atlanta were cancelled once approved inside FY2017 to FY2024, a floor; its ceiling is not printed, as the count is small. Atlanta is best viewed as a county-built figure: a gym loan counts toward Atlanta only through the project county SBA lists, matched by name to the July 2023 boundaries. The loss rate for fitness centers in Atlanta has no printed figure because under 30 loans were funded in the cohort.

Feasibility questions for fitness centers around Atlanta

Demand comes first for fitness centers in Atlanta: rival gyms and studios, then member draw at peak hours. Lenders have funded 276 approvals in the class, yet that count tells an applicant little about a single site until local numbers are built. The appraisal needs its own attention: leasehold improvement value, and landlord consent terms. Cost comes next, including amenity and climate-control upgrades and equipment, flooring and lockers, measured against the Atlanta median loan of $366,000. The coverage test should allow for a late first period, since Atlanta shows fitness center loans that did not go as approved.

SBA fitness center loans in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026276
Gross dollars approved$163.5 million
Median loan$366,000
Middle half of loans, from$199,600
Middle half of loans, to$625,500
SBA 7(a) loans257
SBA 504 loans19
Franchise share of loans65.2%
Rank among metro and micro areas for fitness center loans8 of 608
Rank of fitness center among the classes in this area7 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)1.06x
Median loan against the national median for the class1.41x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)12.3%
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 fitness center loans approved in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA Metro Area, by fiscal year

010203040FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 18Loans, FY2018: 25Loans, FY2019: 37Loans, FY2021: 25Loans, FY2022: 20Loans, FY2023: 33Loans, FY2025: 36Loans, FY2026: 36
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201718$11.5 million
FY201825$16.7 million
FY201937$23.6 million
FY2020withheldwithheld
FY202125$18.6 million
FY202220$9.9 million
FY202333$11.6 million
FY2024withheldwithheld
FY202536$17.3 million
FY202636$25.4 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Small Business Access Partners, Inc.5$8.7 million
Capital Partners Certified Development Company5$7.2 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
The Huntington National Bank46$13.5 million
SouthState Bank, National Association11$4.9 million
Wells Fargo Bank National Association9$2.1 million
Renasant Bank8$8.5 million
Newtek Small Business Finance, LLC8$2.5 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

CountyLoans
Fulton County, GA89
Cobb County, GA50
DeKalb County, GA35
Gwinnett County, GA32
Cherokee County, GA14
Forsyth County, GA10
Henry County, GA8
Barrow County, GA7
Fayette County, GA7
Paulding County, GA7

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.

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 MA-12060-C33.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a fitness center project in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA 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.

Request Scope & Timeline

Start with the data.

Contact Us