Flex Space Feasibility Study in Indiana

Smaller loans, all 7(a)

Indiana flex lending is entirely under SBA 7(a): every one of the 36 loans between FY2017 and FY2026 came through that programme, and none through 504. Total dollars come to $16.9 million. The median loan of $265,400 is only 0.44x the national median, the central half of loans runs from $119,500 to $764,750, and franchise brands account for 13.9%. The class ranks 16 of 51 among the states and 19 of 39 within Indiana, and a location quotient of 1.13x says it is slightly overweight. No gauge for this cell stands out against the benchmarks.

Lender and counties

Lake City Bank is the only name in the lender table, with 5 loans worth $3.2 million, an average that dwarfs the state median. Marion County has 5 loans, Elkhart and Lake have 4 each, and Allen, Floyd and Washington have 2 each. The loans spread over several Indiana counties rather than sitting in one.

The record fades

Approvals ran at 5 or 6 loans a year through FY2020, fell to 2 loans worth $298,000 in FY2021, and recovered to 5 loans and $3.6 million in FY2023. FY2024 holds 1 loan for $779,000, FY2025 none, and FY2026 a single loan of $50,000. Since FY2024 SBA has treated most lessor businesses as passive and ineligible, which is why the recent record is so quiet. Anyone reading the yearly counts should keep that rule in mind and treat the early years as the better guide to the class.

Cancellations and a withheld loss rate

Cancellation removed at least 14.3% of Indiana flex approvals in the FY2017 to FY2024 years, with no difference on the strict count. The charge-off rate stays blank because the early funded set covers only a handful of Indiana loans, and Loan Analytics' own presentation rule keeps a rate off any group under 30.

What the study should test

Identify who leases small flexible space in the specific Indiana submarket: trades, distributors, service contractors, small makers. Test rent, vacancy and the time to re-let against a building price near the $265,400 median ticket. Run repayment with the loss of the largest tenant. Office, retail and banquet hall landlords sit under the same code, so flex cannot be isolated, and an appraiser will value the building as income property, with lease terms driving the result.