Restaurant Feasibility Study in the Wilmington, NC Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about full-service restaurant lending in the Wilmington, NC Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Restaurants carry a heavy weight in Wilmington lending. Full-service restaurants are first of 39 classes in the area, and the area sits at 80 in a field of 821 areas, with a location quotient of 1.62x. Across FY2017 to FY2026 the area logged 67 approvals worth $51.3 million in all. The median loan of $400,000 is 1.45x the national class median, while the central loans start at $175,000 and top out at $1.1 million.
New Hanover County and the lenders
New Hanover County, NC accounts for 42 of the loans, so the record is almost one county. First Bank (NC) is listed with 8 loans at $5.9 million, The Huntington National Bank with 6 at $2.9 million, IncredibleBank with 5 at $5.3 million and Live Oak Banking Company with 5 at $2.5 million. IncredibleBank's 5 loans carry $5.3 million, close to the $5.9 million on First Bank (NC)'s 8. Franchise units make up 13.4% of loans, and the rest carry no franchise flag. Loan Analytics withholds the program counts.
Year by year
FY2017 produced 10 loans and $3.7 million, FY2019 6 loans and $7.5 million, FY2020 8 loans and $5.4 million, FY2022 6 loans and $3.3 million, and FY2023 5 loans and $1.5 million. FY2024 was the peak, 11 loans and a heavy $11.5 million, followed by 6 loans and $3.1 million in FY2025 and 6 loans and $6.1 million in FY2026. Cancellation after approval reaches at least 14.5% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals. The charge-off rate, the stricter cancellation measure and the FY2018 and FY2021 rows are withheld; not one of them is zero or guessed at here.
What a study of a Wilmington restaurant must prove
The weight and the loan size both raise the bar. A study has to show that the trade area, can feed another restaurant when the area already leans toward the category, and it must count competing seats and test the seasonal swing in covers. The study should also test coverage in the weakest months, not only on the average. Build-out should be priced against the $400,000 median and the upper end of the central band, and an owned site calls for a separate real estate appraisal. The study should also show the operator's record in a comparable concept.
SBA full-service restaurant loans in the Wilmington, NC Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 67 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $51.3 million |
| Median loan | $400,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $175,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $1.1 million |
| SBA 7(a) loans | withheld |
| SBA 504 loans | withheld |
| Franchise share of loans | 13.4% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas for full-service restaurant loans | 80 of 821 |
| Rank of full-service restaurant among the classes in this area | 1 of 39 |
| Location quotient (share of loans against the national share) | 1.62x |
| Median loan against the national median for the class | 1.45x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 14.5% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | withheld |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA full-service restaurant loans approved in the Wilmington, NC Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 10 | $3.7 million |
| FY2018 | withheld | withheld |
| FY2019 | 6 | $7.5 million |
| FY2020 | 8 | $5.4 million |
| FY2021 | withheld | withheld |
| FY2022 | 6 | $3.3 million |
| FY2023 | 5 | $1.5 million |
| FY2024 | 11 | $11.5 million |
| FY2025 | 6 | $3.1 million |
| FY2026 | 6 | $6.1 million |
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| First Bank (NC) | 8 | $5.9 million |
| The Huntington National Bank | 6 | $2.9 million |
| IncredibleBank | 5 | $5.3 million |
| Live Oak Banking Company | 5 | $2.5 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
Where the loans are, by county
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| New Hanover County, NC | 42 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MA-48900-C34.
Related feasibility study pages
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- SBA feasibility study company
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