Fitness Center Feasibility Study in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ Metro Area

A franchise-heavy class with a thin public record

Fitness centers in Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler lean on franchising: 54.5% of the area's 257 loans, approved from FY2017 to FY2026 for $117.6 million, carry a franchise flag. The location quotient is 1.33x; for fitness center loans the area ranks 11 of 608 and the class takes third place (3 of 39) in the local ladder. The $315,000 median loan is 1.21x the class's national mark, and the interquartile range is $140,100 to $538,000.

Program mix and years

SBA 7(a) accounts for 241 loans and SBA 504 for 16. Yearly figures are printed for FY2017 (29 loans, $14.1 million), FY2018 (21), FY2019 (32), FY2021 (24), FY2022 (12) and FY2023 (33, $13.4 million). The counts and dollars for FY2020 and for FY2024 through FY2026 are withheld by Loan Analytics because each of those years holds too few loans to print; they are not zero, and the missing years should not be read as a collapse or a boom.

Holders SBA lists

Arizona Capital Source holds 6 of the 504 loans for $6.9 million and CDC Small Business Finance Corp. 5 for $6.0 million. In 7(a), Midwest Regional Bank holds 13 loans worth $3.8 million, BNC National Bank 10, Simmons Bank 9, Stearns Bank National Association 9 and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 8. These are records of current holders, not an indication of any bank's lending stance.

No loss figures

Loan Analytics withholds this cell's cancellation rate and its charge-off rate, because the cohorts are too thin to print. This page offers no loss evidence of its own, and none should be borrowed from other metros. A lender weighing a Phoenix gym has to lean on other pages for loss context.

Testing a Phoenix-area fitness center

A gym's economics turn on membership volume, retention and rent per square foot. A study should therefore estimate members within a drive time of the site, test price points against competing clubs and franchise systems, and show cash flow through joining and cancelling. For a franchised unit, the cost side should carry the fees and build-out standards that the franchise agreement sets. The appraisal has to separate leasehold improvements and equipment from the operating business. Only loans in counties placed in a July 2023 area are included in these Phoenix figures.