Feasibility Study Data for the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA: loan volume and median size around Santa Cruz-Watsonville
Project sites in Santa Cruz-Watsonville drew 510 SBA approvals for projects in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA metro area between FY2017 and FY2026, for $344.4 million gross. Santa Cruz-Watsonville holds rank 162 of 928 against every other statistical Santa Cruz-Watsonville area, Santa Cruz-Watsonville among them. A typical Santa Cruz-Watsonville loan is $315,000, while the middle half span $110,000 to $785,900. Against the country, Santa Cruz-Watsonville borrowers take larger loans, with a median 1.51x of the national one. Nationally, Santa Cruz-Watsonville loans run smaller than they do here.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA: program mix and lender names serving Santa Cruz-Watsonville
The program split in Santa Cruz-Watsonville is 424 under 7(a) and 86 under 504; in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, 7(a) carries the bigger share. Franchise brands account for 7.5% of loans. Among 7(a) holders, West Coast Community Bank stands first, at 104 loans and $43.3 million, and Wells Fargo Bank National Association comes second with 37 loans and $20.4 million. 32 loans sit with U.S. Bank, National Association; Fifth Third Bank has 30. On 504, Business Finance Capital comes first: 28 loans, $24.0 million; The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation comes next with 19 loans. These are SBA's records of Santa Cruz-Watsonville loans held or once held. West Coast Community Bank appears where SBA gives it as the Santa Cruz-Watsonville holder; the Santa Cruz-Watsonville list neither praises nor faults any holder.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA: where Santa Cruz-Watsonville loans sit by class and county
In Santa Cruz-Watsonville, most of the total is outside the listed classes: 310 loans that carry codes outside the Santa Cruz-Watsonville table. The Santa Cruz-Watsonville class rows therefore describe a minority of Santa Cruz-Watsonville lending. Full-service restaurant is the largest covered class, at 37 loans, then limited-service restaurant with 18, and beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) at 17. Further down sit dental office, 16 loans and automotive Santa Cruz-Watsonville mechanical repair (car and truck) at 14. Santa Cruz County, CA is the largest source of loans, with 510. Demand varies between these counties, so the Santa Cruz-Watsonville figure hides some spread.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA: reading the outcome floors for Santa Cruz-Watsonville
Cancellation after approval reached a floor of 15.1% for Santa Cruz-Watsonville approvals in FY2017 to FY2024; no ceiling is published beside the 15.1% floor, as the number is held back at the source. Of 245 disbursed loans in the FY2017 to FY2021 Santa Cruz-Watsonville cohort, at least 2.4% have been charged off. As for the five-year Santa Cruz-Watsonville rate, it is not reported, its Santa Cruz-Watsonville cohort being under 30 Santa Cruz-Watsonville loans, and it is not Santa Cruz-Watsonville given a number here. Loans keep seasoning, so these rates are floors where a later reading can accumulate but never subtract. Volume crested in FY2017, at 69 loans and $42.2 million. FY2024, with 29 loans and $14.0 million, was the weakest Santa Cruz-Watsonville year before FY2026. Santa Cruz-Watsonville is built from project counties such as Santa Cruz County, CA; county membership trails the 2023 delineation, and an unplaced Santa Cruz-Watsonville county drops its loans from Santa Cruz-Watsonville and every area.
Santa Cruz-Watsonville: testing a project in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
A study for a Santa Cruz-Watsonville project should be built for the specific county, given how unlike its Santa Cruz-Watsonville counties can be. Full-service Santa Cruz-Watsonville restaurant is the lead Santa Cruz-Watsonville class in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, so it has to review seats against realistic covers and kitchen capacity against peak service, then the lunch and dinner balance. Projects in limited-service restaurant here hinge on drive-through and counter throughput, with how a brand holds up in Santa Cruz-Watsonville close behind. A Santa Cruz-Watsonville operator's coverage needs a poor-year check; the valuation should lean on nearby sales, not distant averages. With larger tickets common in Santa Cruz-Watsonville, the analysis should tie the amount to the Santa Cruz-Watsonville project and not to the area.
SBA loans in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 510 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $344.4 million |
| Median loan | $315,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $110,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $785,900 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 424 |
| SBA 504 loans | 86 |
| Franchise share of loans | 7.5% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 162 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.51x |
Cancellation and charge-off
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 15.1% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 2.4% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | withheld |
| Loans in that cohort | 245 |
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 Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 69 | $42.2 million |
| FY2018 | 62 | $44.9 million |
| FY2019 | 59 | $34.1 million |
| FY2020 | 48 | $44.6 million |
| FY2021 | 44 | $40.5 million |
| FY2022 | 52 | $36.1 million |
| FY2023 | 48 | $27.6 million |
| FY2024 | 29 | $14.0 million |
| FY2025 | 50 | $34.7 million |
| FY2026 | 49 | $25.8 million |
Loans by asset class
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 310 |
| Full-service restaurant | 37 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 18 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 17 |
| Dental office | 16 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 14 |
| Hotel and motel | 13 |
| Child care center | 12 |
| Fitness center | 11 |
| Grocery store | 9 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 7 |
| Assisted living (without nursing care) | 7 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 6 |
| Liquor store | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Business Finance Capital | 28 | $24.0 million |
| The Mortgage Capital Development Corporation | 19 | $29.4 million |
| Capital Access Group, Inc. | 14 | $19.5 million |
| Bay Area Employment Development Company | 12 | $11.1 million |
| California Statewide Certified Development Corporation | 8 | $7.6 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| West Coast Community Bank | 104 | $43.3 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 37 | $20.4 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 32 | $15.4 million |
| Fifth Third Bank | 30 | $9.7 million |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association | 14 | $5.2 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 |
|---|---|
| Santa Cruz County, CA | 510 |
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-42100.
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Feasibility study data by asset class in the Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA Metro Area
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