Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about limited-service restaurant lending in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

What Minneapolis adds beyond its state

From FY2017 and FY2026, applicants starting or acquiring quick-service restaurants in Minneapolis took 378 approvals and $177.1 million in gross dollars. Local sizing centers on $277,100; set against the class's national midpoint, that is a ratio of 0.89x, so loans run smaller here. Minneapolis ranks 12 of 779 nationally for quick-service restaurants, while within Minneapolis itself the category is placed 2 of 39 among all asset classes. Half of the approvals fall between $113,125 and $528,450. A location quotient of 0.89x, says limited-service restaurants take a smaller portion of loans in Minneapolis than the national pattern.

Programs, franchises and lenders in Minneapolis

The 504 holders for fast food and counter-service restaurants are led as follows: 18 loans sit with Midwest Business Finance Corporation, 10 with Twin Cities-Metro Certified Development Company. Under 7(a) lending, BankVista (38 approvals), after it, Sunrise Banks National Association (25 approvals) plus Hiawatha National Bank (23). Of the 378 approvals, 341 are 7(a) loans and 37 are 504 loans, which shows which SBA route quick-service restaurants projects tend to use around Minneapolis. The franchise share of Minneapolis approvals is 51.6%. Lender numbers for limited-service restaurants in Minneapolis are drawn from SBA's holder field: a loan is credited to whoever holds it now, so these rows are no guide to credit practice.

Minneapolis by county and fiscal year

132 loans sit in Hennepin County, MN, 61 in Ramsey County, MN and 52 in Anoka County, MN. The yearly file peaks in FY2024 at 51 approvals and $28.7 million, and bottoms out in FY2026 at 25 approvals and $24.1 million.

Floors that may only rise for quick-service restaurants

Among funded loans of FY2017 to FY2021 (169 in Minneapolis), 8.3% have been charged off so far, as a rule, a floor, and 3.6% across five years of approval. Assignment to Minneapolis rests on the county of the project, by SBA's count, matched by name to the 2023 metro and micro list; quick-service restaurant loans that fail the match are omitted in Minneapolis, which keeps these counts on the low side. Within FY2017 to FY2024, 7.7% or more of Minneapolis quick-service restaurant approvals were called off after approval, a minimum (no ceiling is printed).

Testing a quick-service restaurants project in Minneapolis

A study of limited-service restaurants in Minneapolis begins with demand: delivery platforms and commissions, and drive-through and walk-in counts. The 378 approvals file funding of the class in Minneapolis; they do not show that any particular site would pass the same test. The decision to lend belongs to lenders, not studies; a study for quick-service restaurants in Minneapolis provides the evidence a lender can weigh against the record. Cost lines to price include labor cost per transaction and franchise fees and buildout; the sum is then set against Minneapolis loans of $113,125 to $528,450, with $277,100 at the center. On value, a Minneapolis lender will weigh sales per site against system and franchise terms that limit resale. Lenders will look hard at debt service coverage for quick-service restaurants in Minneapolis under a late-ramp case; the loss floors on this page are the cause.

SBA limited-service restaurant loans in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026378
Gross dollars approved$177.1 million
Median loan$277,100
Middle half of loans, from$113,125
Middle half of loans, to$528,450
SBA 7(a) loans341
SBA 504 loans37
Franchise share of loans51.6%
Rank among metro and micro areas for limited-service restaurant loans12 of 779
Rank of limited-service restaurant among the classes in this area2 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)0.89x
Median loan against the national median for the class0.89x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)7.7%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)withheld
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)8.3%
Charged off within five years of approval3.6%
Loans in that cohort169

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 limited-service restaurant loans approved in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro Area, by fiscal year

0204060FY2017FY2018FY2019FY2020FY2021FY2022FY2023FY2024FY2025FY2026Loans, FY2017: 46Loans, FY2018: 38Loans, FY2019: 31Loans, FY2020: 30Loans, FY2021: 40Loans, FY2022: 35Loans, FY2023: 42Loans, FY2024: 51Loans, FY2025: 40Loans, FY2026: 25
Fiscal yearLoansDollars
FY201746$15.1 million
FY201838$8.8 million
FY201931$9.1 million
FY202030$15.2 million
FY202140$18.2 million
FY202235$22.5 million
FY202342$18.1 million
FY202451$28.7 million
FY202540$17.3 million
FY202625$24.1 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 504: lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
Midwest Business Finance Corporation18$14.8 million
Twin Cities-Metro Certified Development Company10$8.0 million
SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
LenderLoansDollars
BankVista38$20.1 million
Sunrise Banks National Association25$5.6 million
Hiawatha National Bank23$10.4 million
The Huntington National Bank21$4.2 million
Old National Bank14$12.3 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
Hennepin County, MN132
Ramsey County, MN61
Anoka County, MN52
Dakota County, MN29
Washington County, MN25
Wright County, MN19
Carver County, MN18
Scott County, MN16
St. Croix County, WI12

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.

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 MA-33460-C35.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a limited-service restaurant project in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metro 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.

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