Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Bellingham, WA Metro Area

What the Bellingham record shows for full-service restaurants

Bellingham dining matches the national share of lending, at 0.99x, and tops its local book at 1 of 39, with loans a little below the national median at 0.88x. The Bellingham, WA record for full-service restaurants stands at 27 loans and $7.3 million, approved during FY2017 to FY2026. Bellingham, WA places 164 of 821 nationally for this class; the class is 1 of 39 locally. The Bellingham location quotient of 0.99x leaves full-service restaurants close to their national share of loans. Set against the national median, Bellingham, WA's median of $241,000 comes to 0.88x, a smaller loan than the norm elsewhere.

The middle half of Bellingham loans runs from $57,950 to $389,300. A proposal's place in this Bellingham band is an initial test. Neither 7(a) nor 504 receives a Bellingham count, since Loan Analytics holds both back. The franchise share is withheld for Bellingham full-service restaurants, and it is not zero. A reviewer reads requests against $241,000. The usual spread runs $57,950 to $389,300. Say plainly whether the full-service restaurant is branded. Without counts, test each SBA structure.

Holders, places and years in Bellingham

SBA 7(a) loans in Bellingham are held by Banner Bank (7 loans worth $710,900), as SBA reports. Names show who carries the paper. No credit practice shows in it. County counts read Whatcom County, WA 27. Printed years: FY2017 with 5 loans and $2.2 million, FY2019 with 6 loans and $2.3 million and FY2021 with 0 loans and $0. Loan Analytics holds back the other years. Thin loan counts explain the gaps. No gap says that nothing was approved. A few printed years show no direction. Lenders compare plans with the Bellingham record. Local evidence completes the picture.

Testing a full-service restaurant project in Bellingham

Cancellation and charge-off rates: none for Bellingham full-service restaurants. The base is under 30 loans. Withheld does not mean zero. Boundaries come from the 2023 rules. Placement runs on the project county. Name decides the match. Any unplaced loan belongs to no area. Across 27 loans, $7.3 million was approved in Bellingham. History is not a substitute for analysis. A study for a full-service restaurant in Bellingham has to test the operator's record with similar rooms; build-out or purchase cost against the $241,000 median; the margin left after prime costs; the restaurants already serving the area; break-even covers with debt added; kitchen and floor staffing cost; whether diners come all week; and the supported value of the leasehold. The record implies no approval in Bellingham. Context is all that the record gives.