RV Park Feasibility Study in New York

A national top five with a modest local weight

New York ranks 5 of 47 states for RV park and campground loans, yet the class sits at 22 of 39 in the state's own asset mix and a location quotient of 0.74x shows it below its national share of approvals. SBA approved 42 such loans from FY2017 to FY2026, worth $29.9 million. The median of $616,000 is 0.88x of the class median nationally, with the middle half of loans between $329,750 and $966,250. No outcome metric is an outlier here, so the cell is best read through its geography and its program split.

Programs, parks and counties

In this cell 35 loans are 7(a) and 7 are 504, and franchise loans are 11.9% of the cell, a reminder that some campground systems are branded. No lender holds 5 or more loans here, so lending is spread across many banks and development companies. Livingston County has the most loans, at 6, followed by Wyoming at 4 and Essex and Orleans at 3 each.

Calendar and cancellations

Volume has been steady but thin: FY2018 reached 7 loans and $3.9 million, FY2022 had 4 loans and $5.3 million, FY2023 had a single loan of $616,000, and FY2024 had 6 loans and $5.7 million, the same count as FY2026, which carried $4.8 million. Cancellation shows a floor of 9.1% for approvals through FY2024, rising to a ceiling of 12.1% when undisbursed loans are treated as cancelled. Charge-offs go unquantified here, with the early cohort under the 30 loan floor.

Season, land and permits

An RV park is a seasonal land business, and a New York study should say so first. Occupancy and rate by month matter more than a yearly average, and the shoulder and winter months may bring little income, so coverage has to be tested against the whole year. Demand evidence includes drive time from population centres, nearby attractions, competing parks and campgrounds, and the share of sites sold as seasonal or long stay. Cost depends on utilities, septic or sewer, roads and the number of pads, and zoning and environmental permits can lengthen the schedule and add to cost. A loan near $616,000 may be an acquisition or an expansion, which the study should state. The appraisal will value land and improvements, so a lender asks for conservative occupancy.

A coding limit

Campgrounds and RV resorts are filed alongside RV parks, so this cell cannot tell a pure RV park from a tent campground.