Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area

What Washington adds beyond its state

Volume in Washington reaches 439 approved loans for fast food and counter-service restaurants, carrying $183.3 million gross, within the FY2017 to FY2026 window. Nationally Washington stands 10 of 779 inside metro and micro areas for these loans, and locally the category stands 2 of 39 against its local peers. The midpoint loan in Washington is $300,000, level with the nation's class median by 0.96x. A location quotient of 1.25x, means fast food and counter-service restaurants form a larger portion of local SBA lending than the national pattern. The central half of approvals stretches from $102,000 to $500,000.

The Washington lender and program record

No 504 lender is listed for limited-service restaurants in Washington on this page. The franchise share of Washington loans is 50.1%. Under 7(a) lending, for now, Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company (89 loans), after it, The Huntington National Bank (26 approvals) with TD Bank, National Association (19). The 7(a) program accounts for 430 loans and the 504 program for 9, so a borrower here can see which program does the study for limited-service restaurants. SBA reports the current holder of every loan, so these Washington lines describe who carries quick-service restaurant approvals now, and they do not describe how any institution underwrites, and no lender's requirements are implied.

Counties and years in Washington

Fairfax County, VA holds the most approvals at 93; Prince George's County, MD follows with 69, and District of Columbia, DC has 65. By year, in this cell, FY2025 is the high mark for limited-service restaurants in Washington (69 loans, $38.2 million) and FY2020 the low (25 approvals, $11.3 million).

Cancellations, charge-off floors and the boundaries of the record in Washington

The charge-off figure is 9.2% by the data cut within 163 disbursed Washington loans from FY2017 to FY2021, as a rule, a floor that can rise; 4.3% came across five years of approval. Cancellation after approval reached 14.9% for Washington fast food and counter-service restaurants loans of FY2017 to FY2024; it is a lower bound, and if loans still undisbursed count as cancelled, the rate rises to 16.5%, a ceiling. Each quick-service restaurant loan here is tied to its county of the project, and the county is matched by name to the 2023 areas; Washington therefore leaves out loans whose county cannot be assigned.

Testing a quick-service restaurants project in Washington

Demand comes first for limited-service restaurants in Washington: drive-through and walk-in counts, then corner access and queue room. Lenders have approved 439 approvals in the class, yet that history tells an applicant little about one address until local numbers are built. Last, the appraisal of a Washington site for fast food and counter-service restaurants should address transfer rights in a sale, along with sales per site against system. Coverage of debt service is the decisive test for fast food and counter-service restaurants in Washington: it must hold when sales ramp slowly, given the floors above record cancelled and charged-off loans in the area. Approval is never promised by a study, but a study lets a lender and a borrower use the same SBA record for Washington. On cost, equipment and signage rules and drive-through lane work must appear in the budget for quick-service restaurants, which can then be read next to the $102,000 to $500,000 range lenders in Washington have used.