Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Columbus, OH Metro Area

The lightest tickets in this group of restaurant markets

Columbus restaurants borrow small. The median is $100,000, only 0.36x the national class median, with $50,000 to $326,375 bracketing half of all loans. That ratio is the plainest feature of this cell. The Columbus market ranks 18 of 821 nationally for full-service restaurants, which come first among 39 classes locally, with 368 approvals worth $102.4 million. A location quotient of 1.01x means local lending mirrors the national mix.

Small tickets suggest modest build-outs, leased space and little real estate, though a study should say so instead of assuming. SBA 7(a) accounts for 347 of the loans and SBA 504 for 21. Franchises make up 12.2%, a real minority. A request far above $326,375 will need a clear story, such as a purchased building, because lenders here mostly see restaurants financed at a fraction of the national norm.

A one-bank market

The Huntington National Bank holds 220 SBA 7(a) loans worth $43.9 million, a share that dwarfs the others: Telhio Credit Union Inc has 13, KeyBank National Association 11, The Union Bank Company 9 and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association 9. Under SBA 504, Community Capital Development Corporation has 11 loans and $4.0 million. These are SBA's records of what each holder has now or had; they are not a verdict on any lender. A borrower will probably meet Huntington's credit staff first. By county, Franklin County, OH has 241 loans, Delaware County, OH 53, Licking County, OH 30, Fairfield County, OH 20, Madison County, OH 11 and Pickaway County, OH 6.

Cancellations begin at 14.0% for the FY2017 to FY2024 approvals and top out at 15.9%. The 177 loans disbursed over FY2017 to FY2021 show 4.0% written off, a floor, with the five-year rate withheld by SBA. Approvals ran from 43 loans in FY2017 to a high of 59 in FY2018, a low of 26 in FY2022 and 32 in FY2026. County-based membership under the 2023 delineation leaves out any loan SBA cannot place.

Testing a Columbus restaurant

Demand in Franklin County differs from Delaware County's suburbs, so a study should draw the trade area carefully and count competing concepts. It must price the build-out honestly against $100,000, show prime cost and rent, and prove debt service coverage on sales a new unit can reach. The appraisal covers the leasehold or property. Any Columbus request meets our desk; its signatory is Daniel Smith, MAI, because 368 older loans settle nothing for yours.