Medical Office Feasibility Study in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area

Physician offices at national weight but smaller tickets

In Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, SBA lending for physicians' offices tracks the national share almost exactly, with a location quotient of 1.01x, while borrowing runs light, a $250,000 median set against a national class median it reaches only 0.73x of. The area stands 13 of 488 for the class, and medical office is 9 of 39 among the metro's own classes. From FY2017 into FY2026 SBA approved 136 loans, worth $67.8 million, and central-half tickets begin at $100,000 and end at $620,500.

Oakland County first

Oakland County supplies 61 loans, Wayne 40 and Macomb 28. SBA 7(a) accounts for 122 loans and SBA 504 for 14, and the printed franchise share is 0.00%. The year-by-year record is uneven: 7 loans in FY2019, 22 in FY2021, then 19 loans in FY2024 that carried $19.1 million, the highest dollar year in the series despite not being the highest loan count. Michigan Certified Development Corporation holds 9 of the 504 loans, worth $7.6 million.

One bank holds most of the 7(a) paper

The Huntington National Bank is listed with 45 loans and $10.5 million, leaving Bank of America, National Association (6 loans, $4.3 million) and Newtek Bank, National Association (5, $2.0 million) far behind. SBA names the holder it records today, and the page repeats that wording. The figures describe holdings and cannot show how any of these institutions weighs a practice proposal.

The cancellation floor

The cancellation floor, 17.6% of loans approved in FY2017 through FY2024, means that at least that share of Detroit-area approvals never reached closing. Detroit's physician offices also lack the all-in cancellation measure and any charge-off rate; too few loans support them, so they are unknown, never nil.

What a Detroit-area medical practice study must settle

Because so many approvals are cancelled, a study should begin by showing that the project can close: site control or lease terms, build-out cost and licensing, and the physician's credentialing and payer contracts. Revenue should be built from patient visits, collections per visit and the practice's referral sources, and tested against a median ticket of $250,000. Include a scenario with one physician gone, and show what the remaining practice can carry. Appraisers value practices and buildings differently, and the study should keep them apart. Geography follows the July 2023 area definitions, so a county outside them contributes no loans here.