Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN Metro Area

Franchise-led and bank-concentrated

Indianapolis posts 187 quick-service restaurant loans for FY2017 to FY2026, $66.0 million gross, 26 of 779 nationally for quick service, with the class 2 of 39 here. The franchise share of 68.4% is a high share, while the location quotient of 0.92x is a bit under the national share. Marion County has 65 loans, Hamilton 61, Hendricks 16, Boone 12, Madison 12, Hancock 7 and Johnson 6. Hamilton County's near-parity with Marion marks the northern suburbs as a major market, and a study for either side should say how far the trade area reaches across the county line.

The median is $268,300, 0.86x the national class median, lower quartile $81,000, upper quartile $471,500. The ratio sits below national, so the study should test whether a request above $471,500 is justified. Loans split 179 under 7(a) and 8 under 504, nearly all working-capital and equipment style.

One holder dominates

The Huntington National Bank (64 loans, $15.3 million) is far ahead of the rest. Next come Flagship Enterprise Center, Inc. (dba Bankable) (7 loans, $996,000); KeyBank National Association (6 loans, $3.0 million); Horizon Bank (6 loans, $2.8 million); Stock Yards Bank & Trust Company ($2.6 million over 6 loans). That concentration is a feature of SBA holdings, not a rule, and it says nothing of what any bank requires.

Outcome floors

In Indianapolis the cancellation floor is 9.7% of approvals through FY2024. Missing in this cell are a cancellation cap and any charge-off rate, and a missing value is not a zero. Nor can we say how Indianapolis franchised units have performed after funding, since SBA publishes nothing for them here. The study has to supply that evidence from comparable units and from the franchisor's own disclosure.

The Indianapolis study should test the trade area, the traffic counts on the pad site in Marion or Hamilton County, the franchise agreement's cost load, labor supply and coverage at a loan near $268,300. Because Hamilton County carries almost as many loans as Marion, the study should show which side of the county line its demand comes from and whether competing units cluster there. For the 187 quick-service loans, Marion, Hamilton, Hendricks and Boone were each found in the delineation of July 2023; an unrecognised county leaves a loan in no metro, which makes 187 a floor.