Fitness Center Feasibility Study in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about fitness center lending in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

New York: $390.9 million in fitness center loans

Over FY2017 to FY2026, New York-Newark-Jersey City businesses in fitness center took 773 approvals summing to $390.9 million. The center sits near $226,600, and half of them fall between $65,000 and $650,000. The ratio to the national median for fitness center is 0.87x, so New York, NY loans run below the national middle.

Where New York stands, 3 of 39 in class

In New York the program split reads 755 for 7(a) against 18 for 504, with 7(a) ahead. Working capital is possible just on the 755 7(a) side of New York; the 18 504 loans are tied to property and long-lived equipment. The franchise share, 47.0%, shows how much of the New York, NY class is branded. Place in the national table: 1 of 608. Place among New York, NY classes: 3 of 39. The New York quotient is 0.96x, which puts the class less common around New York-Newark-Jersey City than the national pattern, so either openings or soft demand. The busiest counties: Suffolk County, NY at 77 loans, New York County, NY at 74, Bergen County, NJ at 70. New York, NY is not a one-state market: NJ, NY all fall inside it.

Lenders and floors behind 773 New York loans

By year, FY2025 tops the series with 125 loans and $59.9 million, while FY2021 is lowest with 29 and $28.5 million. New York-Newark-Jersey City 7(a) holders, ranked by loans: TD Bank, National Association with 113 loans for $26.0 million; The Huntington National Bank with 84 loans for $24.2 million; Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company with 71 loans for $9.4 million. SBA reports 113 fitness center loans under TD Bank, National Association; the figure is a holding, and no requirement can be read from it. Between 14.6% and 16.3% of fitness center approvals in New York for FY2017 to FY2024 never funded, the lower figure being a floor. The charge-off floor, 12.0% of 283 disbursed loans, includes 8.1% written off inside five years of approval.

What a fitness center study in New York, NY has to prove

Before debt is sized in New York-Newark-Jersey City, the study weighs the pull of nearby households, the memberships a trade area can sustain and rival gyms and boutique studios, since those set New York revenue. A sound New York, NY budget names opening marketing, a long lease and locker and shower areas, then tests each line against New York-Newark-Jersey City comparables. Stress New York cash flow with a $65,000 loan and a $650,000 loan, then check where coverage weakens. Last comes the appraisal around New York, where membership goodwill, fitness equipment and the lease term each need support ahead of the New York, NY appraiser asks. Past lending does not decide the next application: the 773 New York, NY loans frame the study, and nothing more.

Limits behind 773 New York-Newark-Jersey City loans

The project county puts each of New York, NY's 773 loans in the area. County names, Suffolk County, NY among them, are paired to New York using the July 2023 delineation. New York cancellation covers FY2017 to FY2024 approvals; charge-offs cover FY2017 to FY2021 disbursements.

SBA fitness center loans in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026773
Gross dollars approved$390.9 million
Median loan$226,600
Middle half of loans, from$65,000
Middle half of loans, to$650,000
SBA 7(a) loans755
SBA 504 loans18
Franchise share of loans47.0%
Rank among metro and micro areas for fitness center loans1 of 608
Rank of fitness center among the classes in this area3 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)0.96x
Median loan against the national median for the class0.87x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)14.6%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)16.3%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)12.0%
Charged off within five years of approval8.1%
Loans in that cohort283

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 New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ Metro Area, by fiscal year

0255075100125FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 89Loans, FY2018: 106Loans, FY2019: 80Loans, FY2020: 37Loans, FY2021: 29Loans, FY2022: 54Loans, FY2023: 57Loans, FY2024: 76Loans, FY2025: 125Loans, FY2026: 120
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201789$35.9 million
FY2018106$39.9 million
FY201980$36.3 million
FY202037$25.8 million
FY202129$28.5 million
FY202254$24.2 million
FY202357$42.0 million
FY202476$37.0 million
FY2025125$59.9 million
FY2026120$61.3 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
TD Bank, National Association113$26.0 million
The Huntington National Bank84$24.2 million
Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company71$9.4 million
Newtek Bank, National Association34$16.3 million
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association29$7.3 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
Suffolk County, NY77
New York County, NY74
Bergen County, NJ70
Nassau County, NY58
Westchester County, NY58
Monmouth County, NJ54
Kings County, NY53
Middlesex County, NJ45
Morris County, NJ39
Queens County, NY36

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-35620-C33.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a fitness center project in the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ 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.

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