Fitness Center Feasibility Study in Idaho

Idaho gyms: common, modest and franchised

Fitness is one of Idaho's most frequent SBA borrowers: the class ranks 4 of 39 inside the state, with 121 approvals worth $47.6 million from FY2017 to FY2026. On a national ranking the state sits 28 of 54 for fitness loans, and a location quotient of 0.97x leaves Idaho gyms close to the weight they carry nationally. The Idaho median of $197,300 is 0.76x the fitness median for the nation, and the Idaho quartiles sit at $50,000 and $478,000. None of the three gauges, size, cancellation or charge-off, stands out against both Idaho lending as a whole and the national class, so the story here is the mix of deals.

Franchised gyms account for 36.4% of Idaho fitness loans. Of the 121, SBA 504 financed 19 and SBA 7(a) the other 102. Zions Bancorporation, National Association holds 15 loans worth $2.7 million and The Huntington National Bank 14 worth $3.0 million, both books of small credits; Washington Trust Bank's 8 total $4.6 million, Glacier Bank holds 6 and Idaho First Bank 5. Among 504 holders, Capital Matrix, Inc. has 9 worth $4.4 million and East-Central Idaho Development Company 6 worth $5.7 million.

Losses that came late

Idaho's charge-off record has a delayed shape. The 51 Idaho fitness loans funded during FY2017 to FY2021 have a 3.9% write-off floor, yet the five-year figure is 0.00%: no Idaho gym loan in that group failed in its first five years, and the losses came later. A lender should not let a clean early run end its monitoring. Idaho gym cancellations run 8.0% of FY2017 through FY2024 approvals, with the ceiling at 11.4% when undisbursed commitments are treated as cancelled. Volume jumped to 23 approvals in FY2026, the busiest year in the period, after running between 7 and 18.

What an Idaho fitness study has to test

Ada County alone holds 56 approvals, with Kootenai at 18, Canyon at 13 and Bonneville at 9. Demand work means counting the memberships a trade area can support against the gyms, studios and franchise clubs already open, and testing churn, since a gym's revenue is only as stable as its renewal rate. The cost case needs current quotes for equipment, flooring, locker rooms and heating and cooling, plus any franchise build standard. Repayment should be modeled on a membership ramp that reaches break-even on realistic sign-ups, and be stressed for the later-life losses this record shows. For a 504 building, the appraisal has to value a large open-span property for another user. The fitness class has no coding limitation, and no other class shares its industry code.