Fitness Center Feasibility Study in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area

Fitness lending in metro Detroit

Metro Detroit shows 167 fitness center approvals on SBA's books between FY2017 and FY2026, $74.7 million gross, 17 of 608 nationally for the class, with fitness 4 of 39 on the Detroit class list. The location quotient reads 0.77x, so fitness is less concentrated here than in the national book even though it ranks near the top locally. Oakland County supplies 95 loans, Wayne County 43 and Macomb County 20.

Franchising is the other feature: 48.5% of loans carry the flag, close to half the book. Loans are moderate, with $213,200 at the median, which is 0.82x the national figure, and quartile edges at $50,000 and $478,000. The lower quartile is strikingly low for a gym, which suggests many small studios and fit-outs of leased space. Program mix: 155 loans are 7(a) and 12 are 504.

One bank and a development company

Among banks, Huntington (The Huntington National Bank) runs well ahead with 77 loans and $10.7 million. Behind it stand Stearns Bank National Association (8 loans, $2.3 million), Oxford Bank (7 loans, $2.9 million), JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association ($1.4 million across 5 loans) and Fifth Third Bank (5 loans, $3.0 million). The 504 side shows Michigan Certified Development Corporation with 6 loans worth $8.4 million. A long list on this page does not indicate access, and a short one does not indicate scarcity: the rows record who holds or held loans.

Cancellations and a missing rate

Cancellation after approval has a floor of 8.9%, the ceiling on that measure being withheld. The charge-off rate is withheld too, so it appears nowhere on this page, and the lack is not zero. A lender therefore has no charge-off floor to compare for this cell.

Because 48.5% of loans carry the franchise flag, a study must declare which path the project takes. A franchised unit brings a fee schedule and a prescribed build-out; an independent studio brings flexibility and the burden of proving its concept. The lower quartile of $50,000 shows that small, leased studios are part of the picture, and the upper quartile of $478,000 shows larger clubs too.

A study for a Michigan gym should test membership demand in the chosen suburb against competing clubs, the lease and build-out cost, seasonality in membership, the fee burden if the unit is franchised, and coverage at a loan near $213,200. Oakland, Wayne and Macomb gym loans reach the 167 through the project county's name, matched to the July 2023 delineation, and a gym loan whose county is not matched falls outside every metro, so the total is a minimum.