Fitness Center Feasibility Study in Iowa

Iowa gyms: a heavy class with late losses

Fitness centers punch well above their weight in Iowa. They are the 3 of 39 class among Iowa's SBA asset classes, and a 1.50x location quotient shows gyms and studios holding a bigger slice of Iowa's SBA approvals than they hold nationally. From FY2017 to FY2026 Iowa approved 125 fitness loans worth $46.8 million, which ranks the state 27 of 54 for the class. The typical Iowa loan is small: a median of $193,500, or 0.75x the national fitness median, with the interquartile band from $85,000 to $441,000. The headline figures show no outlier, so the weight of the class, its franchise share and its loss pattern are what this Iowa page has to explain.

Franchise concepts account for 49.6% of Iowa fitness loans, so about half of the Iowa book is franchised. SBA 7(a) carries 110 approvals and SBA 504 15, the latter led by Iowa Business Growth Company with 8 loans worth $5.9 million. The Huntington National Bank holds 16 Iowa gym loans, Lincoln Savings Bank and U.S. Bank, National Association 8 each, and Bankers Trust Company and Clear Lake Bank & Trust Company 6 each.

What the Iowa floors reveal

Iowa's charge-off record needs a closer look. Of 41 gym loans disbursed between FY2017 and FY2021, 12.2% are now charged off, yet only 2.4% failed inside the first five years, so most Iowa losses arrived after the first five years. Iowa's cohort is small and still repaying, which makes both readings floors. Cancellation after approval reached 10.1% of approvals from the FY2017 to FY2024 window, and with the ceiling also at 10.1%, almost nothing from that window is still waiting to fund.

Testing an Iowa fitness project

An Iowa feasibility study has to see beyond the first Iowa membership drive. Polk County holds 45 approvals, followed by Scott at 11, Johnson at 10 and Linn at 9, so a club in Polk County competes inside the densest part of the Iowa record; elsewhere the comparison set is thin. The study should count members a site can hold against nearby clubs, test churn and pricing well past launch, toward the middle of the loan term, and price equipment replacement into the budget. The coverage test should be run with conservative retention. For a franchise, the study must weigh royalty and refresh obligations. If the deal includes a building, the Iowa appraisal must value it as general commercial space that could outlive the gym. FY2026 brought 20 Iowa approvals worth $11.3 million, so the newest loans have yet to be tested.