Restaurant Feasibility Study in Oregon

Oregon: the top class, with cancellations to watch

Full-service restaurants lead Oregon's SBA lending, 1 of 39 classes, though the location quotient of 0.94x puts them a touch under their national share. Oregon ranks 22 of 54 among states, with 458 approvals worth $181.0 million from FY2017 to FY2026. Loans are smaller than the national pattern: a median of $200,000, 0.73x the class median, with Oregon's middle band of approvals reaching from $45,000 to $509,750. The cancellation figure is the one an Oregon borrower should note first: at least 15.1% of Oregon restaurant approvals in the FY2017 to FY2024 cohort ended up cancelled, and the ceiling with undrawn loans is barely higher at 15.4%. Neither Oregon's median nor its outcome floors are flagged against Oregon lending in every industry or against sit-down restaurants nationally, so they read as facts of this cell rather than proven state effects.

Columbia Bank and the leading counties

Columbia Bank is the leading holder with 91 loans worth $22.3 million, followed by U.S. Bank, National Association with 66 smaller loans worth $6.9 million, KeyBank National Association with 20 and Wells Fargo Bank National Association with 19. SBA 504 is a minor channel, 30 loans against 428 under SBA 7(a), with Evergreen Business Capital at 9 and Cascade Capital Funding at 7. Franchise codes appear on 6.3% of loans. Multnomah County dominates with 153 loans, with Washington County at 71, Marion at 33 and Clackamas at 30. The trend shows a sharp dip: from 73 loans in FY2019 to 21 in FY2021, before a recovery to 51 in FY2024 and 56 in FY2025.

Losses and the feasibility case

Of the 199 Oregon restaurant loans funded in FY2017 to FY2021, 4.5% are charged off so far and 2.5% failed within five years, both floors that can still rise. With a high cancellation floor and a loan typically near $200,000, the deal should be fully assembled, with lease, permits, equity and contractor bids, before approval. An Oregon restaurant feasibility study has to measure demand from the specific neighbourhood or main street, map competitors by concept and price, and account for the local cost of labour in the operating budget. It must price the kitchen and fit-out against the loan, weigh food and labour costs against menu prices, and demonstrate debt service coverage on realistic covers through the slower months. If a building purchase is part of the request, Oregon appraisers will look for comparable restaurant sales and rents, which the study can supply.

Oregon's figures carry no class limitation, and every rate shown is a floor.