Quick service restaurant lending in Richmond: where the area stands

Behind 54 SBA approvals worth $29.8 million between FY2017 and FY2026, Richmond, VA stands 63 of 779 among metro and micro areas. Counting quick service restaurant loans, Richmond stands at 0.94x the share seen nationally: Richmond weights the class lightly. Within Richmond's own mix the class ranks 2 of 39, a major line locally. Every project county in Richmond lies in VA.

The median Richmond loan comes to $350,000, with its middle half between $203,750 and $622,825. The local median is 1.13x the median nationally for the class, so Richmond loans run larger. A 7(a) and 504 breakdown is not shown for Richmond. Thin counts sit under Richmond's split; Richmond silence is not nil. Franchised units account for 64.8% of loans in Richmond, a read on branding. Richmond borrowers can read that as context.

Richmond holders and counties for quick service restaurant

Under 7(a) in Richmond, SBA records these holders First Community Bank (VA): 5 loans, $2.4 million. The 504 table for Richmond is empty. Each Richmond row is an SBA record. These Richmond loans sit with the lenders named. Richmond rows speak to files, not policy. Richmond rows state no lender requirement. Across Richmond counties, Richmond city, VA leads with 16 loans, followed by Chesterfield County, VA with 13, Henrico County, VA with 12 and Hanover County, VA with 5.

SBA prints these yearly approvals for Richmond: 7 loans and $3.4 million in FY2018, 7 loans and $3.6 million in FY2021, 14 loans and $10.4 million in FY2025 and 9 loans and $6.9 million in FY2026. FY2017, FY2019, FY2020 and FY2022 through FY2024 stay blank for Richmond on thin counts, so Richmond's blanks are not quiet years. Loans approved from FY2017 to FY2024 in Richmond were cancelled afterward, at a floor of 16.1%. For Richmond, no charge-off floor is printed. Thin Richmond cohorts mean unpublished, not none. The Richmond totals follow federal lines from July 2023, with Richmond loans placed by project county, and Richmond omits unmatched counties.

Proving a quick service restaurant project in Richmond

Richmond treats quick service restaurant figures as background; a study decides. Richmond reviewers will check drive-through lane length and daily counts. Lenders in Richmond will look for sales against the franchisor's stated economics. Richmond borrowers should expect the study to document franchise approval and opening timeline. For Richmond, the study should address first-year ramp below mature volume. For Richmond, we would first examine whether the lease outlasts the loan. Richmond work runs demand, cost, coverage, value. Richmond lenders get evidence, not a promise.

SBA limited-service restaurant loans in the Richmond, VA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	54
Gross dollars approved	$29.8 million
Median loan	$350,000
Middle half of loans, from	$203,750
Middle half of loans, to	$622,825
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	64.8%
Rank among metro and micro areas for limited-service restaurant loans	63 of 779
Rank of limited-service restaurant among the classes in this area	2 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	0.94x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.13x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	16.1%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	withheld
Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor)	withheld

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 Richmond, VA Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	withheld	withheld
FY2018	7	$3.4 million
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	7	$3.6 million
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	withheld	withheld
FY2024	withheld	withheld
FY2025	14	$10.4 million
FY2026	9	$6.9 million

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
First Community Bank (VA)	5	$2.4 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

County	Loans
Richmond city, VA	16
Chesterfield County, VA	13
Henrico County, VA	12
Hanover County, VA	5

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-40060-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 Richmond, VA 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.

Daniel Smith, MAI

Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Richmond, VA Metro Area