Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA Metro Area

All of it in Thurston County

Every one of the 49 full-service restaurant loans in the Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater record sits in Thurston County, WA. SBA lists them for FY2017 to FY2026 with $29.4 million approved. Typical size is $400,000, or 1.45x the nationwide level, with quartile edges of $174,000 and $675,000. Locally restaurants are first of 39 (1 of 39), the location quotient reads 1.54x, and against every other area the metro places 101 of 821.

Independent operators

Franchise share is 0.00%, so each borrower in this record is an independent operator, which fits a state capital with a strong local-restaurant culture. The tallies for 7(a) and 504 are not printed here.

Holders and years

KeyBank National Association is the 7(a) holder of record for 6 loans worth $1.7 million, and Hanmi Bank for 5 loans worth $3.2 million; those SBA tallies describe holdings, not how either bank works. Only three years print: FY2017 with 5 loans and $932,500, FY2019 with 7 and $5.0 million, and FY2024 with 8 and $1.7 million. Everything else in FY2018 and from FY2020 to FY2026 is withheld, so no trend can be drawn. Compared with the dollars in the larger metros, these figures are modest, which fits a market of a few dozen operators.

Missing risk figures

The 49 loans have neither a printed cancellation rate nor a printed charge-off rate. They are held back, not zero. Olympia's tally exists because Thurston County matched, by name, the July 2023 list.

What a study in Olympia should test

State government jobs, a college presence and seasonal tourism shape dining demand in this small capital metro, and the study should name which one the site leans on. It should compare menu price and covers per day against rents in downtown and in the Lacey and Tumwater corridors, price the kitchen and dining room buildout against a median near $400,000, and test coverage with a slow winter. The appraiser should value real estate, equipment and the going concern separately. A study should also test labor availability and wage levels in Thurston County, since a full-service room lives or dies on staffing, and the lease terms for any space with a hood and grease trap already in place.