Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Louisiana

Louisiana quick service: bigger loans, a 7(a) market

Louisiana's limited-service restaurants carry loans well above the class norm. The Louisiana median of $419,900 is 1.35x the class median nationwide, and it is the reading where the Louisiana cell clears our distinctness margin, measured against Louisiana's all-asset book and against quick service nationally. The Louisiana quartiles span $179,000 to $965,000, a wide range that holds both small counter concepts and full drive-through builds, and the 159 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 total $100.1 million. Branded units account for 61.6% of Louisiana loans.

Quick service ranks 2 of 39 among Louisiana classes by loan count, with a 1.06x location quotient, while Louisiana ranks 34 of 54 among states for quick-service lending. It is almost entirely a 7(a) market, 152 loans against 7 under SBA 504, so few Louisiana operators are using a development company to buy their real estate. Approvals rose from 9 in FY2020 to 23 in FY2024, 22 in FY2025 and 23 worth $17.0 million in FY2026.

Louisiana holders and floors

The Huntington National Bank and Hancock Whitney Bank hold 14 Louisiana loans each, worth $7.3 million and $5.6 million. American Bank holds 8, Live Oak Banking Company 7 worth $7.1 million, and Gulf Coast Bank 6. Louisiana deals have often failed before closing: at least 13.2% of Louisiana's FY2017 to FY2024 approvals ended cancelled, and the Louisiana ceiling rises to 15.8% when undisbursed loans are included, a gap that hints at recent approvals still in the pipeline. Funded Louisiana loans have done well. Of 54 Louisiana loans disbursed in the FY2017 to FY2021 years, 1.9% are charged off, with the five-year figure the same 1.9%. These floors cover loans still repaying.

What a Louisiana quick-service study must establish

The Louisiana record is spread across several parishes: Orleans holds 22 approvals, East Baton Rouge 19, Ascension 15, Saint Tammany 14, Lafayette 13 and Jefferson 10. A feasibility study must test daytime population and traffic at the site, drive-through capacity, the quick-service units already serving the corridor, and the brand's unit results in comparable Louisiana markets. Cost should be priced from the franchisor's prototype and current local bids. Given the cancellation floor, the study should resolve site, title and equity questions before commitment. The payment test must hold at a loan that can approach $965,000, and the Louisiana appraisal must stand on the real estate without counting the franchise.