Flex Space Feasibility Study in Illinois

A cancellation floor that stands out

In Illinois flex space, the number that distinguishes the cell is how often approved loans fell away. At least 28.6% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals never funded, and the strict reading of unfunded loans changes nothing. A borrower should not treat a commitment as a finished financing here; a lender should budget for effort lost on deals that never close. The other metrics are typical. Illinois logged 56 loans across FY2017 to FY2026 worth $57.1 million, ranks 7 of 51 for the class and 20 of 39 inside the state, and has a location quotient of 1.01x, almost exactly the national weight.

Ticket sizes and structure

A $481,800 median sits at 0.80x the national figure, and the loans in the heart of the range run $309,000 to $1.4 million. Program choice is lopsided: 55 loans under SBA 7(a) against 1 under SBA 504, so owners almost never use the fixed-rate real estate programme here, and franchises appear in 10.7% of loans. Byline Bank is the one lender at the reporting threshold, with 13 loans worth $20.9 million, an average far above the median, so it handles the bigger buildings. Cook County has 23 loans, DuPage and Saint Clair 4 each, and Kane, Lake and Will 3 each.

Volume ends

Approvals climbed from 7 loans in FY2017 to a high of 14 loans worth $13.7 million in FY2021, then fell to 5 in FY2022 and 8 in FY2023. FY2024 holds a single loan for $750,000, and the record shows nothing at all for the years after. This class nearly stops in SBA data from FY2024, so the absence reflects how the lending channel treats nonresidential lessors, not a collapse in demand for flex buildings. Anyone planning a project should ask a lender whether an eligible structure exists today.

The loss record so far

The 30 loans that funded across the FY2017 to FY2021 window carry no charge-offs at all, now or at the five-year mark. Thirty is barely enough to print a rate, and the claim is a floor.

What the study should test

A study for an Illinois flex building has to find the real tenant: small manufacturers, contractors, showroom users, trades, and how many such tenants exist near the site. Rent per square foot and the speed at which a vacant bay refills decide the income side. Cost has to be tested against a ticket near $481,800 and against what comparable buildings sell for. Repayment should be run with one anchor tenant leaving, since few tenants carry a small building. The lessor code also holds office and retail landlords and banquet halls, so SBA data cannot isolate flex alone.