Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Port St. Lucie, FL Metro Area

Port St. Lucie: restaurants first, with very large loans

Between FY2017 and FY2026, Port St. Lucie borrowers received 46 SBA-approved full-service restaurant loans worth $39.3 million. Port St. Lucie sits 104 of 821 areas, and full-service restaurants lead its own local order at 1 of 39. The 0.86x location quotient puts full-service restaurant a little under its national weight in Port St. Lucie. Two counties split the record evenly, Martin County, FL and St. Lucie County, FL. By county, Martin County, FL (23) and St. Lucie County, FL (23).

$553,000 is the median in Port St. Lucie, and the middle half sits between $170,000 and $1.1 million. Against the national class median, Port St. Lucie stands at 2.01x, so loans run larger than usual. Loan Analytics suppresses the Port St. Lucie split between 7(a) and 504. Franchised units account for 10.9% of Port St. Lucie loans.

A single bank named

TD Bank, National Association is the lone name on the list, with a small average loan, far under the median. TD Bank, National Association, 6 loans and $195,000 hold the 7(a) loans shown. Each Port St. Lucie entry lists a count and dollars, an inventory, not a review.

Port St. Lucie shows no cancellation floor or ceiling, and blanks are not zeros. By year: 9 loans worth $5.4 million in FY2019, 6 loans worth $5.0 million in FY2022, 6 loans worth $5.1 million in FY2023, and 6 loans worth $2.7 million in FY2024. In Port St. Lucie, thin counts hide the missing years. A county match sits behind each Port St. Lucie figure, and unplaced projects go missing.

The Port St. Lucie test list

Loans this large call for a hard look at what is being built or bought: the study should split land, building, kitchen equipment and furnishings, and show revenue per seat that supports the total. Demand should be tested from year-round residents and from competing rooms on the main roads of both counties. Coastal exposure puts wind, flood and insurance on the cost list. Debt service has to hold through a slow summer and a soft opening year. Expect the lender to ask for a valuation that splits real estate from the business, and for the lease alternative when the building is in the request. The study should also state the plan for coastal storm days: closure cost, insurance recovery and the effect of lost days on monthly coverage.