Worked Example: SBA 504 Owner-Occupied Retail Feasibility Study in Michigan
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for an owner-occupied retail project in Michigan, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
Feasibility Study Data for the Saginaw, MI Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Saginaw, MI Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Saginaw among metropolitan areas, ranked by 405 loans
Among metro and micro areas, Saginaw ranks 191 of 928 by loans, with 405 approvals over FY2017 to FY2026 and $153.8 million gross. Smaller tickets mark Saginaw. The Saginaw median of $100,000 is 0.48x the national figure; in Saginaw, half of loans span $50,000 to $340,000. The gap between $50,000 and $340,000 in Saginaw shows how varied borrowers are. Saginaw offers no typical loan in Saginaw.
By program, Saginaw holds 386 SBA 7(a) loans beside 19 SBA 504 loans. Franchised businesses in Saginaw make up 9.1% of loans. In Saginaw, MI, classes rank full-service restaurant with 28, limited-service restaurant with 19 and hotel and motel with 11. 264 Saginaw loans belong to no tracked class. The 405 total counts them. The Saginaw project county is Saginaw County, MI alone, at 405 loans in Saginaw.
Saginaw, MI: lenders behind the 405 loans
In Saginaw, holder lines build on SBA's listing in Saginaw of loans each institution holds or once held in Saginaw, per holder field in Saginaw, and say nothing of lender standards. Saginaw holders should be read that way. In Saginaw, leading SBA 7(a) holders are The Huntington National Bank with 199 loans worth $24.7 million; ChoiceOne Bank with 60 loans worth $29.4 million; Live Oak Banking Company, holding 12 loans worth $22.1 million. No holder in Saginaw, MI reaches the 504 table threshold. The Saginaw 504 side carries no lender names. In Saginaw, concentration among top holders says little. A Saginaw study should stand on evidence alone in Saginaw.
Cancellation floor, Saginaw: 11.1% of FY2017 to FY2024 approvals in Saginaw. Unfunded loans counted as cancelled lift Saginaw to a ceiling of 12.6%. In Saginaw, SBA shows 0.00% charged off to date, a floor, among 159 loans disbursed FY2017 to FY2021; 0.00% came within five years. Saginaw approvals peaked in FY2024, at 62 loans. A loan joins Saginaw through a project's county, from the file with the July 2023 delineation, and that loan with an unmatched county appears in no area. The 405 loans in Saginaw, MI count the 264 loans outside any named class.
Saginaw: testing a project in Saginaw, MI
Demand leads the Saginaw list. Measure the trade area around one site in Saginaw, not the metropolitan area average, then test a late opening in Saginaw. Project cost follows in Saginaw. Lenders fund a $100,000 median here, still quotes and comps must drive it, adding a visible contingency for Saginaw. Serviceability is the heart of Saginaw. Calculate coverage at the loan size as well as in Saginaw under a downside case, so the margin of safety shows in Saginaw. Saginaw appraisers challenge weak assumptions in Saginaw, so the study's in Saginaw value logic has to be documented for Saginaw. In Saginaw, 405 loans spread over many neighbourhoods, and a Saginaw study must say which it targets. At 0.48x of the national median, a very large Saginaw project may look unusual in Saginaw. The study should explain its scale for Saginaw against $100,000.
SBA loans in the Saginaw, MI Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 405 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $153.8 million |
| Median loan | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $50,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $340,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 386 |
| SBA 504 loans | 19 |
| Franchise share of loans | 9.1% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 191 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.48x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 11.1% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 12.6% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 0.00% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | 0.00% |
| Loans in that cohort | 159 |
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 loans approved in the Saginaw, MI Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 31 | $16.9 million |
| FY2018 | 32 | $5.1 million |
| FY2019 | 38 | $21.8 million |
| FY2020 | 30 | $9.7 million |
| FY2021 | 50 | $16.3 million |
| FY2022 | 53 | $22.0 million |
| FY2023 | 54 | $14.0 million |
| FY2024 | 62 | $19.7 million |
| FY2025 | 32 | $12.3 million |
| FY2026 | 23 | $16.0 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 264 |
| Full-service restaurant | 28 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 19 |
| Hotel and motel | 11 |
| Self storage | 7 |
| Skilled nursing | 7 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 7 |
| Beauty salon | 6 |
| Assisted living (without nursing care) | 5 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 5 |
| Dental office | 5 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 5 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 5 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 5 |
| Child care center | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
Most active SBA lenders
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| The Huntington National Bank | 199 | $24.7 million |
| ChoiceOne Bank | 60 | $29.4 million |
| 1st State Bank | 35 | $10.9 million |
| Live Oak Banking Company | 12 | $22.1 million |
| Wildfire Credit Union | 9 | $3.0 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 |
|---|---|
| Saginaw County, MI | 405 |
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.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
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 MT-40980.
Related feasibility study pages
- Michigan feasibility study consultant
- Feasibility Study Data by Metro Area
- SBA feasibility study company
- Feasibility Study Data for the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Lansing-East Lansing, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Flint, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Ann Arbor, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Traverse City, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Kalamazoo-Portage, MI Metro Area
- Feasibility Study Data for the Muskegon-Norton Shores, MI Metro Area
Feasibility study data by asset class in the Saginaw, MI Metro Area
Worked examples
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Saginaw, MI Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
Request Scope & Timeline
Start with the data.
Contact Us