Gas Station Feasibility Study in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area

Big tickets across the Columbia

Gas station lending in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area crosses the Oregon and Washington line and runs at a large scale. SBA approved 67 loans worth $156.7 million, and the median loan of $2.1 million is 2.01x the national median for the class, the clearest mark of distinction in this cell. The location quotient of 0.97x shows the class is about as common as nationally, it ranks 9 of 39 locally, and the metro lands 16 of 600 on its volume of fuel-retail lending. Franchise units are 71.6% of loans, so branded fuel supply dominates.

Fuel retail by lender and county

Loan amounts in the middle half stretch from $1.2 million to $3.5 million. Program counts are 60 for 7(a) and 7 for 504. Celtic Bank Corporation holds 18 loans on the 7(a) list worth $45.1 million, and PCB Bank holds 15 worth $45.1 million; the dollar figures reflect SBA's records of loans held and carry no judgment of either bank. County counts show a split market: Clark County, WA has 20 loans, Multnomah County, OR 19, Clackamas County, OR 14 and Yamhill County, OR 7.

The industry code behind this class pools truck stops and travel centers with fuel stops lacking a convenience store, so some loans may finance a very different property from a roadside store with fuel. Annual counts are 8 loans in FY2017 ($9.5 million), 6 in FY2019 ($8.5 million), 11 in FY2021 ($27.0 million), 7 in FY2023 ($18.4 million), 9 in FY2024 ($22.5 million), 8 in FY2025 ($24.4 million) and 10 in FY2026 ($27.1 million). FY2018, FY2020 and FY2022 are withheld as too thin. Cancellation and charge-off figures are also absent, and nobody should assume a value for them. Membership of the metro is set one county at a time, from where each project is located.

What a study for a fuel property has to test

A study for a fuel property here carries a heavy load. It has to test traffic counts on the site's road, fuel gallons and inside sales a branded supplier would expect, and the cost of tanks, canopy and compliance, which runs well beyond ordinary build-out. Environmental history of the parcel matters because contamination can end a deal. Debt service coverage must hold when fuel margins compress. Since franchise supply agreements are common, the study should say how the brand's terms affect cash flow. The appraisal will weigh real estate and going concern separately. Nothing here predicts approval.