Hotel Feasibility Study in the Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN Metro Area

Louisville lodging: a heavily flagged, mid-sized market

Hotels and motels rank fifth locally in Louisville/Jefferson County, 5 of 39, and the metro stands 47 of 807 nationally, with a location quotient of 1.03x that sits almost exactly on the national mark. SBA approved 38 loans and $99.1 million from FY2017 to FY2026. Set the Louisville median, $2.5 million, against the national class and the ratio is 1.14x; the middle of the loan distribution is $1.7 million to $3.6 million.

Louisville lodging has 30 loans through 7(a) beside 8 through 504, and 78.9% carry franchise flags, which means brand standards, renovation plans and fees touch most projects. The lodging code spans economy motels and full-service hotels alike, leaving the property type for a study to state.

Lender, counties and years

GBank alone reaches the listing threshold here, 5 loans carrying $16.9 million, a very high average. What the table records is holding, not policy: SBA lists these institutions and we pass the listing on unchanged. Jefferson County, KY has 12 loans, Clark County, IN 9 and Oldham County, KY 6, so the Indiana side of the river is a real part of the record, and a Clark County site should be compared with its own peers as well as with Louisville's. Years that print: FY2017 brought 5 loans and $12.9 million, FY2021 brought 6 and $16.4 million, FY2025 brought 8 and $22.0 million, FY2026 brought 5 and $13.9 million. The other years are held back.

Neither cancellation nor charge-off can be quoted for Louisville hotels; each rate is suppressed, and a suppressed rate is not zero. Louisville is defined county by county, using the July 2023 delineation, so a loan with an unplaceable county falls away.

What a Louisville hotel study has to test

Demand from conventions, the airport, events and leisure travel gets measured against room supply in Jefferson County and across the river, and the build or renovation is costed against the $2.5 million midpoint. Occupancy and daily rate have to cover the debt, with the flag's requirements in the model, and property and business are valued on their own. Loan Analytics will have Daniel Smith, MAI, sign the Louisville report; the study informs the request and promises no approval.