Fitness Center Feasibility Study in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about fitness center lending in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
A three-county gym market
King County, WA holds 133 of the 210 fitness center loans around Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Pierce County, WA 45 and Snohomish County, WA 32, for $109.4 million between FY2017 and FY2026. Seattle holds slot 14 of 608 among areas for gyms, and fitness centers take 4 of 39 among local classes; a location quotient of 1.13x puts the class modestly above its national weight, so a study that departs from the local pattern should explain why. SBA 504 lenders here are too small to be named.
The median is $319,500, which is 1.23x the national class figure, with $100,000 and $600,750 as the lower and upper quartile. SBA 7(a) carried 202 loans against 8 for SBA 504. Franchised units are 40.0%. Among FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, cancellations start at 10.5%. Neither an upper bound nor a charge-off rate is published for Seattle, and no blank counts as nil, so lenders read the cancellation floor alone.
Lenders
KeyBank National Association leads with 39 SBA 7(a) loans and $14.0 million, with U.S. Bank, National Association next at 22 and $8.0 million, Columbia Bank (OR) at 16, The Huntington National Bank at 11 and Newtek Bank, National Association at 9. One holder on this list, Columbia Bank (OR), is an Oregon bank. Everything here is SBA's holder data, with no verdict attached. King County's 133 loans dominate Pierce County's 45 and Snohomish County's 32, so the study should say plainly which county the site sits in.
Approvals were 9 loans in FY2017, jumped to 33 loans and $10.6 million in FY2019, sank to 10 in FY2022 and rose to 36 loans and $22.3 million in FY2025, with 31 in FY2026. A business that swings that sharply should be tested through a slow year. Seattle's figures use the 2023 delineation to place loans by project county.
Testing a Seattle-area gym
The study should size the membership pool a short drive from a King, Pierce or Snohomish County site, set it against rival clubs and studios, and weigh equipment and floor work against $319,500. Coverage rests on member count, retention and dues. None of the 210 approvals above guarantees a result for a new site, and a request near the $600,750 upper quartile needs a case of its own.
SBA fitness center loans in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 210 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $109.4 million |
| Median loan | $319,500 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $600,750 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 202 |
| SBA 504 loans | 8 |
| Franchise share of loans | 40.0% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas for fitness center loans | 14 of 608 |
| Rank of fitness center among the classes in this area | 4 of 39 |
| Location quotient (share of loans against the national share) | 1.13x |
| Median loan against the national median for the class | 1.23x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 10.5% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | withheld |
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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 9 | $5.4 million |
| FY2018 | 18 | $7.6 million |
| FY2019 | 33 | $10.6 million |
| FY2020 | 19 | $10.6 million |
| FY2021 | 14 | $9.2 million |
| FY2022 | 10 | $2.4 million |
| FY2023 | 15 | $8.7 million |
| FY2024 | 25 | $10.4 million |
| FY2025 | 36 | $22.3 million |
| FY2026 | 31 | $22.3 million |
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| KeyBank National Association | 39 | $14.0 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 22 | $8.0 million |
| Columbia Bank (OR) | 16 | $4.5 million |
| The Huntington National Bank | 11 | $3.9 million |
| Newtek Bank, National Association | 9 | $3.0 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
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| King County, WA | 133 |
| Pierce County, WA | 45 |
| Snohomish County, WA | 32 |
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-42660-C33.
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- Feasibility Study Data by Metro Area
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