Worked Example: SBA 504 Hotel Feasibility Study in Washington
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a hotel project in Washington, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Moses Lake, WA Micro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
SBA approved 236 loans across the Moses Lake, WA micro area from FY2017 through FY2026, worth $133.5 million in gross dollars. Moses Lake holds rank 282 of 928 against every other statistical area, Moses Lake among them. The median ticket in Moses Lake is $150,000, whereas the middle Moses Lake half span $50,000 to $659,500. Moses Lake borrowers borrow less, since 0.72x is the local Moses Lake median against the national median. Smaller Moses Lake tickets are the first thing that sets Moses Lake apart.
The program split in Moses Lake is 224 under 7(a) and 12 under 504. Moses Lake is a 7(a) Moses Lake market first. Franchise brands account for 9.7% of loans in this micro area. Among 7(a) holders, Washington Trust Bank stands first, at 52 loans and $18.3 million; next is Banner Bank, 34 loans for $5.4 million. U.S. Bank, National Association holds 28 loans, then 14 for Columbia Bank (OR). 504 lending here runs through Northwest Business Development Association, at 7 loans and $7.0 million. These are SBA's records of Moses Lake loans held or once held. Washington Trust Bank appears as the holder SBA reports; the Moses Lake list neither praises nor faults any holder.
The larger share of the Moses Lake record falls outside the class table: 162 loans that carry codes outside the Moses Lake table. The Moses Lake class rows therefore describe a minority of Moses Lake lending. Gas station and truck stop is the largest tracked class, at 17 loans, ahead of hotel and motel at 10, and limited-service restaurant at 9. Further down sit Moses Lake automotive mechanical repair (car and truck), 7 loans and rehabilitation and therapy clinic at 6. By county, Grant County, WA accounts for 236 loans. A project in one Moses Lake county meets other land costs, which the micro area total blends together.
Cancellation after approval reached a floor of 8.3% for Moses Lake approvals in FY2017 to FY2024, and the ceiling, which treats Moses Lake loans still undisbursed as cancelled, is 11.0%. Among 108 loans in the FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed Moses Lake cohort, charge-offs to date stand at a minimum of 0.00%; within five years of approval the Moses Lake rate was 0.00%. Older loans can still default, making these minimums so the final Moses Lake figure is higher or equal. Volume Moses Lake crested in FY2025, at 31 loans and $13.2 million. FY2022, with 15 loans and $5.2 million, was the weakest year before FY2026. Moses Lake is built from project counties such as Grant County, WA, county membership follows the 2023 delineation, yet Moses Lake counties Moses Lake that resist matching stay out of all Moses Lake totals.
Any Moses Lake feasibility study has to be prepared for the individual county, since area totals mix several markets. Moses Lake lenders see gas station and truck stop most often, so it has to examine pump count against queues and diesel and truck traffic counts, then the thin fuel margin. For hotel and motel, the next Moses Lake class in Moses Lake, the questions are staffing cost per occupied room and capital reserves for renewals. Cash flow for a Moses Lake loan needs a poor-year test; the Moses Lake collateral value needs local proof under it. Since Moses Lake loans skew small, a ask above the middle half will draw questions the Moses Lake study should answer first.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 236 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $133.5 million |
| Median loan | $150,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $50,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $659,500 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 224 |
| SBA 504 loans | 12 |
| Franchise share of loans | 9.7% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 282 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.72x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 8.3% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 11.0% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 0.00% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 0.00% |
| Loans in that cohort | 108 |
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 loans approved in the Moses Lake, WA Micro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 20 | $11.2 million |
| FY2018 | 25 | $13.2 million |
| FY2019 | 24 | $11.8 million |
| FY2020 | 27 | $11.4 million |
| FY2021 | 24 | $20.5 million |
| FY2022 | 15 | $5.2 million |
| FY2023 | 20 | $18.3 million |
| FY2024 | 26 | $22.6 million |
| FY2025 | 31 | $13.2 million |
| FY2026 | 24 | $6.1 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 162 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 17 |
| Hotel and motel | 10 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 9 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 7 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 6 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Northwest Business Development Association | 7 | $7.0 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Trust Bank | 52 | $18.3 million |
| Banner Bank | 34 | $5.4 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 28 | $8.7 million |
| Columbia Bank (OR) | 14 | $2.3 million |
| Readycap Lending, LLC | 8 | $15.5 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.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Grant County, WA | 236 |
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.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
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 MT-34180.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a hotel project in Washington, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Moses Lake, WA Micro 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.
Start with the data.
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