Gas Station Feasibility Study in Alabama

Cancellation and loan size both set Alabama apart

Alabama gas station lending shows two distinctive signals at once. The cancellation floor is 28.0% for FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, rising to 30.0% when loans still undisbursed are counted, and the median loan of $700,000 is 0.67x the national class median. Both metrics differ from Alabama lending overall and from the national class. SBA approved 63 loans for gas stations and truck stops between FY2017 and FY2026, worth $56.5 million, the class ranks 8 of 39 among Alabama's classes, and a location quotient of 1.20x shows it taking a larger share of state lending than of the national book. The state stands 26 of 53 on volume.

Financing structure and lenders

The central half of loans sits between $351,500 and $1.3 million. SBA 7(a) carried 44 loans and SBA 504 carried 19, so a sizeable minority of the loans are real estate financings through a certified development company. Franchise brands appear in 39.7%. Florida Business Development Corporation holds 8 of the 504 loans, worth $8.4 million, followed by Southern Development Council with 5 worth $5.4 million. On the 7(a) side, Northeast Bank has 7 loans worth $1.9 million and Metro City Bank has 5 worth $6.5 million. Jefferson County leads with 13 loans, then Mobile with 8, Cullman and Lee with 5 each.

Scope limits and uneven years

The class follows whatever industry the borrower reported, and truck stops or travel centres cannot be split from gas stations lacking a convenience store. The 2022 industry index has no entry for electric vehicle charging, so charging-led projects do not appear separately. Approvals jumped to 17 loans and $18.5 million in FY2024 from 4 in FY2023, then fell to 3 in FY2026. Charge-offs go unquantified: the funded cohort is below 30 loans, so Loan Analytics gives no rate and makes no claim that none occurred.

What the study must test

With a cancellation floor of 28.0%, an Alabama project should settle site control, environmental review and fuel supply terms before the loan is approved. Count traffic on the corridor, then test gallons and inside sales against the ticket, and price tanks, canopy and building against a median of $700,000. Debt service coverage needs a case with weaker fuel margins. A lender should require an environmental assessment, and the valuation will treat the site as an operating business with its brand agreements attached. Charging infrastructure belongs in the plan as an option, not as a revenue assumption.