Quick service restaurant lending in Savannah: where the area stands

48 SBA loans worth $31.3 million were approved in Savannah, GA from FY2017 to FY2026, a rank of 72 of 779 among metro and micro areas. The quick service restaurant share of Savannah's loans is 1.76x the share seen nationally: Savannah favors the class heavily. Ranked inside Savannah, the class sits 3 of 39, a strong local line. Each Savannah project county is in GA.

In Savannah, the median loan is $355,000, with the middle half running from $164,975 to $555,350. That median is 1.14x the class median nationally, so Savannah tickets run bigger. Loan Analytics withholds the program split for Savannah because few loans back it; gaps never mean zero. Franchise share of loans in Savannah is 52.1%.. For Savannah borrowers, that is context only.

Savannah holders and counties for quick service restaurant

Among 7(a) loans in Savannah, SBA records these holders 13 loans worth $4.9 million at The Huntington National Bank; 7 loans worth $1.1 million at Small Business Assistance Corporation; and 5 loans worth $1.4 million at Metro City Bank. The 504 table for Savannah is empty. Every Savannah row is an SBA record. Savannah lenders hold or held these loans. Savannah figures show files, not conduct. No Savannah row says what a lender requires. Savannah place by place: Chatham County, GA records 41 loans.

Savannah's published years show FY2017: 8 loans, $15.5 million, FY2018: 7 loans, $2.2 million, FY2019: 5 loans, $2.0 million, FY2020: 5 loans, $1.6 million, FY2023: 7 loans, $1.9 million, FY2025: 5 loans, $3.3 million and FY2026: 5 loans, $2.7 million. The years left unprinted stay blank for Savannah on thin counts, so blank years in Savannah may hold loans. At least 23.7% of the FY2017 to FY2024 approvals recorded in Savannah were cancelled after approval. Counting undisbursed loans, the ceiling is 23.7%. Savannah has no published charge-off floor. Savannah's thin cohort stays unpublished. All Savannah totals use the July 2023 delineation, with Savannah loans placed by project county, and Savannah omits unmatched counties.

A quick service restaurant study for Savannah: the tests

For a quick service restaurant project in Savannah, GA, the record gives context; a study proves. Lenders in Savannah will look for first-year ramp below mature volume. In Savannah, the study must show whether the lease outlasts the loan. Savannah borrowers should expect the study to document the building apart from the brand. Savannah analysis should establish competing concepts on the same corridor. In Savannah, a study has to test franchise approval and opening timeline. For Savannah: demand, cost, coverage, value. No Savannah approval is promised here.

SBA limited-service restaurant loans in the Savannah, GA Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	48
Gross dollars approved	$31.3 million
Median loan	$355,000
Middle half of loans, from	$164,975
Middle half of loans, to	$555,350
SBA 7(a) loans	withheld
SBA 504 loans	withheld
Franchise share of loans	52.1%
Rank among metro and micro areas for limited-service restaurant loans	72 of 779
Rank of limited-service restaurant among the classes in this area	3 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	1.76x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.14x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	23.7%
The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling)	23.7%
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 Savannah, GA Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	8	$15.5 million
FY2018	7	$2.2 million
FY2019	5	$2.0 million
FY2020	5	$1.6 million
FY2021	withheld	withheld
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	7	$1.9 million
FY2024	withheld	withheld
FY2025	5	$3.3 million
FY2026	5	$2.7 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
The Huntington National Bank	13	$4.9 million
Small Business Assistance Corporation	7	$1.1 million
Metro City Bank	5	$1.4 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
Chatham County, GA	41

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-42340-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 Savannah, GA 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 Savannah, GA Metro Area