Fitness Center Feasibility Study in Florida

Bigger gym loans and a heavier loss record

Loan size and losses set Florida's fitness center lending apart, and both set the cell apart from the state's lending across all industries and from gyms nationally. On size, the median Florida gym loan is $350,000, 1.35x the class's national median. On losses, 12.4% of the 314 fitness loans disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021 have already been charged off, and 6.7% went bad within five years of approval. Because open loans can still fail, 12.4% is the least the cohort will lose, not the final count. In the state ranking for gym loans Florida is 3 of 54, with 859 approvals worth $424.6 million from FY2017 to FY2026, yet its location quotient of 0.94x shows gyms a little under-represented in Florida's SBA book compared with the nation.

Franchise-led borrowing

More than any other feature, franchising shapes this market: 54.9% of Florida fitness loans went to franchised clubs. The central half of loans stretches over $150,000 to $595,750, the range of a franchise build-out in leased space more than a building purchase, and SBA 7(a) carried 790 loans against 69 under SBA 504. The Huntington National Bank holds 149 of the 7(a) loans, worth $43.5 million, with Newtek Bank, National Association and Stearns Bank National Association at 39 each. Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. tops the 504 list for gyms with 42. Broward County leads at 86 loans, with Miami-Dade at 84, Palm Beach at 77 and Hillsborough at 76. Volume has accelerated: 134 loans in FY2025 and $72.7 million in FY2026, both highs for the series.

What lenders and a study should take from it

Cancellation claimed at least 12.8% of Florida gym approvals from FY2017 to FY2024, or 14.6% counting undrawn loans. Put beside the charge-off floor, the message for a lender is that losses in this class arrive after funding. A feasibility study for a fitness center in Florida therefore has to test membership demand at the level of the trade area, and count every competing club, boutique studio and low-price chain within a short drive. Build-out and equipment costs must be priced against a loan near $350,000, and the study must show debt service coverage on a membership ramp and attrition rate drawn from comparable clubs, not on the franchisor's best units. Where a lease is involved, the study should test the lease term against the loan term, and the appraisal of any owned building will rest on its value as ordinary commercial space.

No special limitation applies to fitness centers. Each loan is classed by the borrower's industry.