Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Florida

Limited-service restaurants place 2 of 39 among asset classes in Florida, and Florida is 3 of 54 in the national ranking of states for quick service, with 1,374 approvals and $802.4 million from FY2017 to FY2026. What separates the Florida cell from its state and from quick service nationally is ticket size: a median loan of $386,900, which is 1.24x the national median. The location quotient, 0.88x, shows the class taking a slightly smaller share of Florida's SBA lending than it does nationwide, so Florida stands out on loan size rather than on concentration.

Franchise units and the 504 share

Franchise units account for 61.8% of the loans, and SBA 504 carries 156 approvals against 1,218 under SBA 7(a), which points to franchisees buying or building their own pads. Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. holds 62 of the 504 loans worth $72.1 million and Florida Business Development Corporation 70 worth $59.4 million. In 7(a), The Huntington National Bank holds 127 Florida loans; Live Oak Banking Company holds 44 worth $46.0 million and Wells Fargo Bank National Association 43 worth $32.5 million. Each Florida count is the lender's present holding as SBA records it. The middle half of loans spans $200,000 to $685,000.

Loss and cancellation floors in Florida

Of the 526 Florida loans disbursed in FY2017 to FY2021, at least 9.1% have been charged off, and 5.1% failed in their first five years. Florida's cancellation band runs from 13.2% at the floor to 14.1% at the ceiling. A lender reading those floors will want the franchisor's unit-level performance in Florida, not just system averages, and a borrower should expect the projections to be tested against them. Approvals reached 197 and $110.5 million in FY2025, up from 94 in FY2020.

What a Florida quick service study must test

Demand is a site question first. The counties with the most approvals are Orange with 134, Hillsborough with 117, Miami-Dade with 108, Broward with 102, Pinellas with 95 and Palm Beach with 87, and those are the markets where a new unit meets other SBA-financed units. A study has to test traffic, access, drive-through stacking and the daypart mix at the actual pad. Cost testing must cover site work and the franchise build package, which at a median of $386,900 runs above the national norm. Debt service coverage should be run on unit volumes from comparable Florida locations, stressed for a weak first year. Where the pad is bought through 504, the appraisal must value it on restaurant and retail comparables. Quick service carries no coding caveat in our map.