Columbia hotels carry 2.57x the national weight

Columbia, SC ranks 39 among 807 areas on hotel and motel loans, and within Columbia, SC itself the class ranks 2 of 39. The location quotient of 2.57x is the headline: lodging is the second class in the area, with more than two and a half times its national share. The files hold 46 loans for $122.0 million, FY2017 to FY2026, 22 in Lexington County. The Columbia, SC median of $2.5 million equals 1.17x of the national hotel median, and ordinary hotel loans run $1.6 million to $3.6 million.

SBA 7(a) lenders printed include $12.4 million from 6 loans carried by The Huntington National Bank and $30.7 million from 11 loans carried by GBank. Read the Columbia, SC lender lines as the lender on record, without judging how GBank lends. Loans, not lending policy. For hotel loans in Columbia, SC, the loan counts by program and franchise ties is held back because the count falls short; withheld never means zero.

For hotel loans in Columbia, SC, the floor on cancelled loans and charge-off data is held back because the count falls short; withheld never means zero. $30.2 million in 9 loans, FY2017; $9.2 million in 7 loans, FY2018; and $15.3 million in 6 loans, FY2021.

Because the franchise share and program split are withheld, a study should state the brand and funding structure of the proposed property plainly, since the cell cannot supply them.

What a Columbia hotel study tests

In Columbia, SC, a roadside motel and a convention hotel carry the same industry code, which hides the service level. A study should test demand from business, institutional and event travel, the weekday versus weekend mix, the competing supply, brand terms and renovation scope in Columbia, seasonality, and debt service at tickets in the millions. The appraisal should show that a property costing as much as the median loan can be valued without leaning on the brand's own projections. For Columbia, SC, each hotel loan is placed by the county of the project by way of July 2023 boundaries. An unmatched loan goes uncounted. Use this record as background to a hotel assessment at a Columbia, SC site; funding is not guaranteed.

SBA hotel and motel loans in the Columbia, SC Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	46
Gross dollars approved	$122.0 million
Median loan	$2.5 million
Middle half of loans, from	$1.6 million
Middle half of loans, to	$3.6 million
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	withheld
Rank among metro and micro areas for hotel and motel loans	39 of 807
Rank of hotel and motel among the classes in this area	2 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	2.57x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.17x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	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 hotel and motel loans approved in the Columbia, SC Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	9	$30.2 million
FY2018	7	$9.2 million
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	6	$15.3 million
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	withheld	withheld
FY2024	withheld	withheld
FY2025	withheld	withheld
FY2026	withheld	withheld

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
GBank	11	$30.7 million
The Huntington National Bank	6	$12.4 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

County	Loans
Lexington County, SC	22

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.

One code for hotels and motels; limited service and full service cannot be separated.

Shared code: Hotels and motels share 721110.

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-17900-C07.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a hotel and motel project in the Columbia, SC 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.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Hotel Feasibility Study in the Columbia, SC Metro Area