Restaurant Feasibility Study in South Carolina

Larger restaurant loans in South Carolina

A full-service restaurant loan in South Carolina runs large. The South Carolina median is $385,000, 1.40x the national median for full-service dining, and that is the gauge separating this cell from South Carolina's overall SBA lending and from restaurant lending nationally. The middle half of approvals is wide, from $156,000 to $920,000, so the file includes substantial projects, plausibly with real estate, alongside smaller leased fit-outs.

Restaurants rank 1 of 39 classes in South Carolina, though the state ranks only 24 of 54 for the class, on 365 approvals worth $243.3 million during FY2017 to FY2026; the South Carolina location quotient is 1.09x. Volume has grown from 25 South Carolina approvals in FY2017 to 44 in FY2025, worth $35.7 million, and 50 in FY2026. Franchise concepts take 18.9% of loans.

A loss record to plan for

No South Carolina lender should skip the charge-off floor. Of 129 South Carolina restaurant loans disbursed FY2017 to FY2021, charge-offs have reached 10.9% so far and 6.2% within five years of approval, and since the cohort is still repaying, both can rise. Cancellation adds a South Carolina floor of 14.4% and a ceiling of 14.8% for FY2017 to FY2024 approvals. Larger loans and a double-digit loss floor together mean a South Carolina restaurant borrower should expect close scrutiny of equity, experience and collateral.

TD Bank, National Association holds the most South Carolina loans, 39 for $8.9 million, while Pinnacle Bank holds 20 worth $23.4 million, much larger tickets; SouthState Bank, National Association and The Huntington National Bank hold 17 each. SBA 7(a) carried 334 approvals and SBA 504 carried 31, led by Appalachian Development Corporation with 9.

What a South Carolina restaurant study must test

Demand varies sharply across the state: Greenville County holds 67 approvals, Charleston 47, Horry 33, and Beaufort and York 30 each, and a coastal visitor market and an inland suburban one need different methods, with seasonality modeled month by month where visitors drive sales. Cost should separate land, building and kitchen, and where a South Carolina loan sits near the top of the range, close to $920,000, the study should show real estate value carrying a meaningful part of the debt. Debt service coverage needs a stress case built on the South Carolina loss record, and the appraisal must support the property for a second-generation restaurant or another use.