Flex Space Feasibility Study in Ohio

Ohio flex space and the lessor code behind it

Ohio is third among 51 states in the lessor class that carries flex buildings, with 71 loans and $51.3 million approved from FY2017 to FY2026. Inside Ohio the class ranks 20 of 39, so it is a mid-table use of SBA credit at home, and the location quotient of 0.88x says the state's share of such loans trails the national share even though its rank is high. Where Ohio really differs is loan size: the median of $400,000 is 0.67x of the national median for the class, which makes median the distinctive metric for Ohio. Ohio flex and office buildings are being financed in smaller pieces than the national norm, and half of all loans sit between $192,250 and $937,500.

Read the limitation before the numbers

The data cannot pull flex buildings apart from office or retail lessors, since flex, office, retail and banquet hall rental all share one NAICS code. A loan counted on this page may be an investor-owned strip of shops or an office building with no flex use at all. The FY2024 lessor note matters too: the lessor classes nearly stop from FY2024, which the annual figures confirm, with 7 loans and $16.6 million in FY2023, then no loans in FY2024, 1 loan and $247,000 in FY2025 and 2 loans and $180,000 in FY2026. Anyone reading recent volume as demand for flex buildings is reading a change in how SBA treats investor real estate, not a collapse of Ohio's market. The earlier years, such as 16 loans and $9.1 million in FY2021, are the better guide to what these lenders financed.

The file has 64 SBA 7(a) loans and 7 SBA 504 loans, with franchised borrowers at 4.2%. The Huntington National Bank dominates the lender list with 13 loans and $7.1 million, and Telhio Credit Union Inc follows with 6 loans and $3.1 million. Among the counties, Franklin shows 12 loans, Cuyahoga 9, Hamilton 7 and Summit 5. Ohio cancellation is a 13.2% floor for the FY2017 to FY2024 cohort, with a ceiling of 14.7% once undisbursed loans count. The charge-off figures are 0.00% so far on disbursed FY2017 to FY2021 loans and 0.00% inside five years, across a cohort of 45 loans. That cohort clears the 30-loan line, so the rate is printable, though a clean record over 45 loans is a modest sample.

What an Ohio flex study has to test

A study should start by asking whether the building really is flex: clear heights, dock access, office finish and the mix of tenants the layout supports. Demand testing has to name the Columbus, Cleveland or Cincinnati submarket and the vacancy and rent evidence for that submarket specifically, since the loan file offers none. Cost and the smaller median together suggest value-add or modest acquisitions, so renovation scope belongs in the budget. Debt service should be sized on in-place leases, plus a downside in which the biggest tenant leaves. The appraisal should value the building as an investor asset and say plainly how much of the loan the income supports.