Hotel Feasibility Study in the Fort Wayne, IN Metro Area

Fort Wayne: hotels third among classes and well above the national weight

Fort Wayne ranks 81 of 807 among areas for hotels and motels; within Fort Wayne, the class itself ranks 3 of 39. SBA approved 28 loans totalling $50.3 million in Fort Wayne over FY2017 to FY2026. In Fort Wayne the class is over-weighted at 1.69x on location quotient, with a $1.5 million median that is 0.71x the national figure. The weight is high but the loans are modest: the median runs well under the national one, so Fort Wayne finances many hotels at a smaller size.

The middle half of loans runs from $1.0 million to $2.3 million. Franchise units are 64.3% of the loans. Millennium Bank (IL) is listed as holder of 8 of the 28 loans, carrying $12.1 million, which makes it the largest holder named in this record. For Fort Wayne, 7(a) against 504 is not printed.

One year and the code

Fort Wayne prints one year, FY2020, with 6 loans worth $9.6 million. For Fort Wayne, years not named hold too few loans. A rate needs 30 loans, and Fort Wayne has fewer, so none is published. Lodging is coded as a single industry, with no line between limited-service flags and full-service ones, so the median blends them.

Notice how the pieces fit: a rank of 3 of 39 inside the area, a location quotient of 1.69x and a median of $1.5 million at 0.71x the national figure. Hotels matter to the local loan book, but the typical project is smaller than the national one. A lender will therefore ask whether a proposed property is a full-size build or a modest one, and whether its brand is one of the 64.3% franchised.

Putting a Fort Wayne hotel in front of an underwriter

A study here has to show rooms against occupancy and nightly rate, land, construction and furnishing cost, and what happens to the payment when occupancy falls below plan. With a franchise share of 64.3%, brand fees and required improvements need their own lines. A lender will compare the request with a $1.5 million median and middle-half loans of $1.0 million to $2.3 million, so a project far outside that range must explain why. The appraisal will rest on income, which makes every revenue assumption something the study has to source.