Worked Example: SBA 7(a) Assisted Living Feasibility Study in Utah
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for an assisted living project in Utah, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Heber, UT Micro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Project sites in Heber drew 422 SBA approvals for Heber projects from FY2017 through FY2026, for $249.2 million gross. By loan count, Heber ranks 186 of 928 against every other statistical area, Heber among them. The local median loan is $254,400, with half of all loans between $100,000 and $707,750. Heber borrowers borrow more, at 1.22x of the national median. Tickets in Heber run larger than the national median.
The program split in Heber is 322 under 7(a) and 100 under 504. Heber is a 7(a) market first. In Heber, the franchise share of Heber loans is 6.4% in this micro area. 71 loans worth $13.6 million put Zions Bancorporation, National Association first among 7(a) holders, ahead of Mountain America FCU at 45 loans and $13.0 million. Wells Fargo Bank National Association holds 21 loans, and U.S. Bank, National Association at 13. Under 504, Mountain West Small Business Finance is the lead holder with 67 loans and $58.9 million. These are SBA's records of Heber loans held or once held. The line for Zions Bancorporation, National Association Heber appears on the strength of SBA's Heber holder field; nothing here speaks to what Mountain America FCU asks of an applicant.
The larger share of the Heber record falls outside the class table: 319 loans that carry codes outside the Heber table. The Heber class rows therefore describe a minority of Heber lending. The Heber class table opens with full-service restaurant, 25 loans, ahead of fitness center at 9 and behavioral health and addiction treatment with 8. Lower in the table come school (elementary and secondary, including charter) with 8 and limited-service restaurant at 8. Summit County, UT is the largest source of loans, with 254 and then Wasatch County, UT at 168. Summit County alone holds 254 loans against 168 in Wasatch County, so the Heber totals blend two unequal counties.
Of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals in Heber, no fewer than 9.1% were cancelled before the loan closed out. The upper bound, which counts undisbursed loans as cancelled, comes out the same at 9.1%. Charge-offs to date are at least 3.7% for the FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed Heber cohort of 215 loans. Loan Analytics withholds the five-year Heber rate, so no figure appears: the cohort is below 30 loans. Loans keep seasoning, and these rates are minimums, so the final Heber figure is no lower. FY2018 was the high point: 70 loans worth $28.9 million, while FY2022 was the low point before FY2026, at 21 loans and $20.0 million. Membership in the Heber, UT micro area follows the project county: Summit County, UT, Wasatch County, UT and the rest, the 2023 Heber delineation of statistical areas draws the line, with Heber counties matched by name.
A study for a Heber project has to be written for one Heber site and one county, because the micro area total blends different markets. In Heber, with full-service restaurant first in the Heber class table, it has to examine Heber dining rooms and their weeknight trade and what Heber prime cost leaves for debt, then how Heber diners split by daypart. For fitness center, the next class in Heber, the questions are class schedules against peak hours and membership depth within the catchment. Debt service coverage in Heber needs a poor-year test; value has to be proven with Heber comparables from the same trade area. With larger tickets common in Heber, the report should tie the amount to the Heber project and not to the area.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 422 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $249.2 million |
| Median loan | $254,400 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $707,750 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 322 |
| SBA 504 loans | 100 |
| Franchise share of loans | 6.4% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 186 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.22x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 9.1% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 9.1% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 3.7% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | withheld |
| Loans in that cohort | 215 |
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 loans approved in the Heber, UT Micro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 47 | $25.1 million |
| FY2018 | 70 | $28.9 million |
| FY2019 | 42 | $22.7 million |
| FY2020 | 35 | $16.7 million |
| FY2021 | 41 | $42.0 million |
| FY2022 | 21 | $20.0 million |
| FY2023 | 39 | $18.0 million |
| FY2024 | 33 | $18.3 million |
| FY2025 | 51 | $26.2 million |
| FY2026 | 43 | $31.1 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 319 |
| Full-service restaurant | 25 |
| Fitness center | 9 |
| Behavioral health and addiction treatment | 8 |
| School (elementary and secondary, including charter) | 8 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 8 |
| Dental office | 7 |
| Self storage | 6 |
| Hotel and motel | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain West Small Business Finance | 67 | $58.9 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Zions Bancorporation, National Association | 71 | $13.6 million |
| Mountain America FCU | 45 | $13.0 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 21 | $9.3 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 13 | $9.0 million |
| Glacier Bank | 12 | $4.6 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.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Summit County, UT | 254 |
| Wasatch County, UT | 168 |
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.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
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 MT-25720.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for an assisted living project in Utah, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Heber, UT Micro 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.
Start with the data.
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