Fitness Center Feasibility Study in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metro Area

Very small gym loans across a state line

The Providence-Warwick metro area spans Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and its fitness record is defined by small tickets. SBA lists 67 fitness center loans from FY2017 to FY2026 worth $18.7 million. The median is $100,000, just 0.39x the figure for fitness nationally, and half of all loans sit between $50,000 and $340,000. A borrower who reads national fitness loan sizes into this market will overshoot the local norm by a wide margin.

Placement, brands and weight

Providence ranks 43 of 608 in the metro and micro field by fitness loans, and fitness is 6 of 39 among Providence classes. The location quotient of 0.83x tells us gyms take a thinner slice of Providence-area lending than of lending elsewhere. Franchise share stands at 44.8%. Providence gives no figure for 7(a) versus 504, which is withheld, so the program mix stays unknown.

Massachusetts side first

Bristol County, MA contributes 27 loans, more than Providence County, RI with 18, while Kent County, RI and Newport County, RI have 6 each. The study area therefore leans toward the Fall River and New Bedford corridor more than a map of Rhode Island would suggest. Current 7(a) holders SBA names include The Huntington National Bank at 7 loans and $2.5 million, Bristol County Savings Bank at 6 and $528,800, BankNewport at 5 and $350,000, and Santander Bank, National Association at 5 and $298,000. Those are tallies of recorded holdings and make no claim about anyone's standards. FY2019 and FY2026 are the busiest printed years at 11 loans each, worth $1.7 million and $3.3 million. FY2017 had 8 and $3.7 million, FY2018 had 9 and $2.5 million, FY2024 had 9 and $1.9 million, and FY2025 had 8 and $2.1 million. The four years from FY2020 to FY2023 are withheld because each is too thin to print.

What this cell cannot tell you

Cancellation and charge-off rates for this class and metro are withheld, so the page offers neither a floor nor a loss rate. A Providence loan counts only if its project county, read by name, falls in the July 2023 area.

A Providence gym study, point by point

Because loans are small, a study should ask whether the planned concept fits a modest buildout or a large box. Test membership demand within a short trip of the address on both sides of the state line, where wages, taxes and rents differ. Cost work should cover flooring, equipment and any pool or studio extras, and the coverage test should use a loan near $100,000 as well as one near the upper end. The appraiser will find little real estate collateral in a leased gym, so the study should say what stands behind the debt.