Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Traverse City, MI Metro Area

A small metro where restaurants lead

Traverse City is a small metro in which full-service restaurants hold first place among asset classes, 1 of 39. Across FY2017 to FY2026 the class collected 40 SBA loans worth $12.5 million, with a location quotient of 1.17x that marks it as somewhat more important than nationally; sorted against all metro and micro areas, Traverse City comes in at 119 of 821. The ticket is lower than the national one: the median of $229,500 reaches 0.83x of the national class median.

Programs, franchises, lender and county

Half of the amounts sit between $50,000 and $468,000, so some loans are very small. The program counts read 28 and 12, 7(a) then 504, a notable real estate share for a small market, and franchises are 12.5% of loans. The Huntington National Bank is the one 7(a) holder named, with 18 loans worth $2.6 million, an average that fits the small ticket; that line is SBA's holder file speaking, not a verdict. Grand Traverse County supplies 30 of the 40 loans.

Only two years print: 11 loans in FY2021 ($2.7 million) and 8 in FY2022 ($2.4 million). All remaining years are held back, as are the two outcome rates, which means a lender cannot read trend, timing or outcome from this cell. A withheld value is not a zero. Membership in the metro is decided by project county against the 2023 list; a county with no match is left out.

Seasonality and scale

The record gives no monthly detail, but a study for a restaurant in any small market with seasonal trade must still test it: how much of annual sales fall in the busiest months, how the slow months are carried, and whether year-round residents support the concept. Those tests belong beside the usual ones, namely the competing restaurants in the trade area, lease or purchase cost, kitchen and dining-room build-out against a median near $229,500, and a cash flow forecast that covers debt service through a poor first year.

Because the 504 share is visible, a project that buys its building should present the real estate and the restaurant as separate valuations. The appraisal will test both, and the sales forecast needs sources a reviewer can check. The figures printed here are SBA's history for the metro and make no promise about any request.