Gas Station Feasibility Study in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about gas station and truck stop lending in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Gas station lending in Los Angeles

SBA's loan files file 217 approvals for gas stations and truck stops in Los Angeles over FY2017 to FY2026, totaling $438.0 million in gross dollars approved. Compared with the nation, gas and truck-stop businesses fill a smaller share of Los Angeles lending, by the file, a location quotient of 0.59x. The midpoint loan in Los Angeles is $1.8 million, above the nation's class median by 1.71x. Smaller tickets cluster near $1.0 million; the larger end of the typical range reaches $2.8 million. Across the country Los Angeles stands 5 of 600 of metro and micro areas for these approvals, at present, and locally the category stands 12 of 39 across the classes in SBA's files.

The Los Angeles lender and program record

The franchise share of Los Angeles loans is 67.7%. In the 504 table in Los Angeles, as filed, the largest holder is Advantage Certified Development Corporation, with 8 loans; The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation comes next at 6, and CDC Thin Business Finance Corp. follows at 5. Of the 217 loans, 189 are 7(a) loans and 28 are 504 approvals, as filed, which reports which SBA program fuel stops and truck stops applicants tend to use around Los Angeles. Under 7(a) lending, 37 loans sit with Open Bank, 35 with PCB Bank and 17 with Commonwealth Business Bank. Lender figures for gas stations and truck stops in Los Angeles reflect SBA's current-holder records: a loan is credited to whoever stays it now, which states nothing about lending standards.

Counties and years in Los Angeles

Only a single project county stands out for gas stations and truck stops in Los Angeles: Los Angeles County, CA, at 179 loans. Volume was highest in FY2026, with 30 approvals worth $87.8 million, and lowest in FY2023, with 8 loans worth $17.1 million.

Floors and limits behind the Los Angeles figures

One limit: area totals for fuel stops and truck stops follow the project county, using 2023 borders and a name match, on this record, so a loan in an unmatched county never reaches Los Angeles. The code behind these Los Angeles loans is the borrower's own industry, as a matter of record, so a truck stop sits in with plain fuel stops, and plug-in charging has no code of its own before 2022 lists end. 10.5% at least of the FY2017 to FY2024 loans for fuel stops and truck stops in Los Angeles ended in cancellation, a minimum (the ceiling is withheld). A charge-off rate does not appear for gas and truck-stop businesses in Los Angeles, because the funded group behind it is too small to publish; that is never a finding of zero.

Testing a fuel stops and truck stops project in Los Angeles

Begin with demand if gas stations and truck stops are proposed for Los Angeles: fuel volume from passing traffic, plus diesel and truck traffic. A record of 217 approvals is context, rather than proof for a particular address. The coverage check should assume a slow first period, since Los Angeles shows gas station loans that did not run as approved. Institutions decide, not studies; a study for fuel stops and truck stops in Los Angeles supplies the work a lender can weigh against the file. On cost, environmental compliance upkeep and fuel supply and brand terms belong in the budget for fuel stops and truck stops, which is then read next to the $1.0 million to $2.8 million range institutions in Los Angeles have funded. Last, the appraisal of a Los Angeles site for gas and truck-stop businesses should address what fuel gallons are worth, along with the store and fuel split.

SBA gas station and truck stop loans in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026217
Gross dollars approved$438.0 million
Median loan$1.8 million
Middle half of loans, from$1.0 million
Middle half of loans, to$2.8 million
SBA 7(a) loans189
SBA 504 loans28
Franchise share of loans67.7%
Rank among metro and micro areas for gas station and truck stop loans5 of 600
Rank of gas station and truck stop among the classes in this area12 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)0.59x
Median loan against the national median for the class1.71x

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 gas station and truck stop loans approved in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area, by fiscal year

0102030FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 24Loans, FY2018: 26Loans, FY2019: 22Loans, FY2020: 26Loans, FY2021: 22Loans, FY2022: 17Loans, FY2023: 8Loans, FY2024: 17Loans, FY2025: 25Loans, FY2026: 30
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201724$41.8 million
FY201826$52.7 million
FY201922$42.6 million
FY202026$45.2 million
FY202122$38.8 million
FY202217$31.6 million
FY20238$17.1 million
FY202417$23.1 million
FY202525$57.2 million
FY202630$87.8 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Advantage Certified Development Corporation8$10.6 million
The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation6$5.9 million
CDC Small Business Finance Corp.5$4.8 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Open Bank37$94.1 million
PCB Bank35$70.8 million
Commonwealth Business Bank17$36.9 million
Bank of Hope12$25.1 million
United Business Bank11$19.8 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

CountyLoans
Los Angeles County, CA179
Orange County, CA38

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.

The code is the borrower's industry. Truck stop or travel center cannot be split out. EV charging has no entry in the 2022 NAICS index.

Shared code: Truck stops and travel centers sit inside 457120 with gas stations that have no convenience store.

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-31080-C01.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a gas station and truck stop project in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.

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