Hotel Feasibility Study in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about hotel and motel lending in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Lakeland-Winter Haven: hotel and motel lending

In Lakeland-Winter Haven, in FY2017 through FY2026, SBA recorded 25 hotel and motel loans, worth $68.5 million in gross approvals. Inside Lakeland-Winter Haven, hotel and motel lending ranks 4 of 39 in the local class table; Lakeland-Winter Haven comes in at 93 of 807 among all metro and micro areas for hotel and motel loans. At 1.51x, Lakeland-Winter Haven's location quotient puts hotel and motel above the nation. Lakeland-Winter Haven's median loan size comes to $2.7 million. The central half of Lakeland-Winter Haven loans extends from $1.4 million to $4.1 million, and the median comes to a 1.24x multiple of the national class median. Lakeland-Winter Haven hotel loans are large and franchised at 68.0%: a median of $2.7 million at 1.24x, a middle half from $1.4 million to $4.1 million, and a location quotient of 1.51x. Hotels rank 4 of 39 locally and 93 of 807 nationally. SBA 7(a) accounts for 14 loans and SBA 504 for 11, and Polk County holds all 25.

Of Lakeland-Winter Haven's 25 loans, 14 are SBA 7(a), 11 SBA 504. Franchise-affiliated units represent 68.0% of the Lakeland-Winter Haven loan count. In Lakeland-Winter Haven, no holder reaches five loans. Lakeland-Winter Haven therefore identifies no lender. All 25 loans sit in Polk County, FL.

Lakeland-Winter Haven: floors, limits and years

Lakeland-Winter Haven gives a short run of years: FY2020 records 5 loans totalling $13.3 million. Lakeland-Winter Haven's withheld years are: FY2017 to FY2019 and FY2021 to FY2026. Lakeland-Winter Haven's withheld years differ from none. Lakeland-Winter Haven's cancellation rate: withheld, under 30 loans. The Lakeland-Winter Haven charge-off rate: withheld, under 30 loans. Lakeland-Winter Haven's cut-off is Loan Analytics' own. Lakeland-Winter Haven's FY2017 to FY2021 group is short. Lakeland-Winter Haven is drawn on the 2023 July list. Lakeland-Winter Haven admits a loan solely by its county. Lakeland-Winter Haven omits unmatched loans. One code covers all Lakeland-Winter Haven lodging. Lakeland-Winter Haven can not separate limited-service from full-service. Lakeland-Winter Haven hotels and motels share a single code.

Lakeland-Winter Haven: what a study must test

Lakeland-Winter Haven lodging sponsors should name the brand, list the fees and improvements it demands, and test what rate and occupancy the rooms need for a loan near $2.7 million. Compare with properties in Polk County, where limited-service and full-service hotels share a code. FY2020 shows 5 loans worth $13.3 million while other years are withheld, so avoid leaning on one year. A weak season should still meet the instalments, backed by operating records an appraiser can verify.

SBA hotel and motel loans in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY202625
Gross dollars approved$68.5 million
Median loan$2.7 million
Middle half of loans, from$1.4 million
Middle half of loans, to$4.1 million
SBA 7(a) loans14
SBA 504 loans11
Franchise share of loans68.0%
Rank among metro and micro areas for hotel and motel loans93 of 807
Rank of hotel and motel among the classes in this area4 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)1.51x
Median loan against the national median for the class1.24x

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 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL Metro Area, by fiscal year

012345FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2020: 5
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY2017withheldwithheld
FY2018withheldwithheld
FY2019withheldwithheld
FY20205$13.3 million
FY2021withheldwithheld
FY2022withheldwithheld
FY2023withheldwithheld
FY2024withheldwithheld
FY2025withheldwithheld
FY2026withheldwithheld

Where the loans are, by county

CountyLoans
Polk County, FL25

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-29460-C07.

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a hotel and motel project in the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL 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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