Feasibility Study Data for the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL: volume and loan size, median $350,000

Pensacola stands 143 of 928 by loans, drawing 646 SBA approvals over FY2017 to FY2026, $475.8 million gross. In Pensacola, $350,000 is the median loan, 1.68x the national median. Half of Pensacola loans sit between $150,000 and $836,000, larger tickets than the national figure for the same measure. Lenders working Pensacola see tickets from $150,000 to $836,000 most often. A Pensacola study should place its project inside that $150,000 to $836,000 range in Pensacola.

In Pensacola, SBA 7(a) carries 545 loans and SBA 504 carries 101. In Pensacola, franchise brands account for 22.9% of the loans. In Pensacola, leading classes: limited-service restaurant with 37, full-service restaurant with 30 and hotel and motel with 21. Another 421 approvals fall in no named class, so Pensacola totals 646 loans, more than its classes combined. In Pensacola, the counties carrying most volume are Escambia County, FL with 440 and Santa Rosa County, FL with 206 in Pensacola.

Pensacola: holders of SBA loans in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL

In Pensacola, lenders listed derive from SBA's file in Pensacola view of loans a firm has or had in Pensacola, per the holder field in Pensacola, so no underwriting can be read. Pensacola holders should be read that way in Pensacola. Heading the Pensacola SBA 7(a) list: Hancock Whitney Bank with 48 loans worth $19.4 million; Live Oak Banking Company with 45 loans worth $57.2 million; The Huntington National Bank, holding 32 loans worth $14.1 million. The Pensacola SBA 504 side shows Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. with 70 loans worth $52.2 million; Florida Business Development Corporation with 26 loans worth $32.6 million. In Pensacola, concentration among top holders says little. A Pensacola study should stand on evidence alone in Pensacola.

Among Pensacola approvals of FY2017 to FY2024, 13.3% were cancelled after approval, a floor. A Pensacola ceiling, counting undisbursed loans as cancelled, is 14.6%. Among 246 Pensacola loans disbursed FY2017 to FY2021, SBA shows 6.1% charged off to date in Pensacola, a floor in Pensacola, and withholds the five-year rate. Pensacola trend: the busiest year is FY2025, at 93 loans. The Pensacola area rests on the county of the project, matched with the July 2023 delineation, and this loan, if its county is blank stays out of every area. The 646 loans in Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL include those in no named class.

Pensacola: what a project study must test, per Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL

A Pensacola study opens with demand in Pensacola. Size the real catchment of the parcel itself in Pensacola, never the metropolitan area in Pensacola, and let revenue survive a slow ramp. Pensacola cost is the second test. $350,000 is the median ticket, a guide in Pensacola, though every line should rest on bids, also equipment and fees itemised for Pensacola. Debt service coverage is the Pensacola hinge. Test coverage at the requested size plus a case with lower revenue, because loans in Pensacola can still fail. An appraiser values the Pensacola property independently, so any rent figure needs sources that survive review in Pensacola. In Pensacola, 646 loans spread over many neighbourhoods, and a Pensacola study must say which it targets. With Pensacola at 1.68x the national median in Pensacola, projects run large in Pensacola. The study must justify its project for Pensacola against $350,000.

SBA loans in the Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026646
Gross dollars approved$475.8 million
Median loan$350,000
Middle half of loans, from$150,000
Middle half of loans, to$836,000
SBA 7(a) loans545
SBA 504 loans101
Franchise share of loans22.9%
Rank among metro and micro areas by loans143 of 928
Median loan against the national median1.68x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)13.3%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)14.6%
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)6.1%
Charged off within five years of approvalwithheld
Loans in that cohort246

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 Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL Metro Area, by fiscal year

020406080100FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 67Loans, FY2018: 54Loans, FY2019: 57Loans, FY2020: 56Loans, FY2021: 53Loans, FY2022: 59Loans, FY2023: 55Loans, FY2024: 79Loans, FY2025: 93Loans, FY2026: 73
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201767$40.4 million
FY201854$34.9 million
FY201957$34.8 million
FY202056$60.0 million
FY202153$42.9 million
FY202259$53.7 million
FY202355$37.1 million
FY202479$43.6 million
FY202593$76.7 million
FY202673$51.7 million

Loans by asset class

Asset classLoans
Not in any of the 39 asset classes421
Limited-service restaurant37
Full-service restaurant30
Hotel and motel21
Fitness center16
Medical office (physicians)14
Veterinary clinic12
Coffee shop and snack bar12
Child care center11
Dental office10
Self storage8
Car wash7
Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries)6
Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck)6
Beauty salon6
Liquor store5

Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc.70$52.2 million
Florida Business Development Corporation26$32.6 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Hancock Whitney Bank48$19.4 million
Live Oak Banking Company45$57.2 million
The Huntington National Bank32$14.1 million
Pinnacle Bank (TN)31$38.4 million
Wells Fargo Bank National Association29$5.3 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.

Where the loans are, by county

CountyLoans
Escambia County, FL440
Santa Rosa County, FL206

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-37860.

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