SBA 504 Dental Office Feasibility Study in Michigan

Michigan's quiet 504 dental book

Dentists borrow modestly under SBA 504 in Michigan: 33 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026, worth $17.6 million, with a median loan of $496,000 that reaches 0.83x of what Michigan's peers in other states borrow, and a central half from $300,000 to $697,000. Michigan holds place 14 nationally, and dentistry ranks 7 of 39 on its home list, a high position for the program. No franchise brands appear, at 0.00%. Lending has also thinned: FY2018 produced 9 loans and $4.7 million, while FY2024 and FY2026 show none.

Lenders and counties

Michigan Certified Development Corporation is named holder of 22 loans worth $10.8 million, and Great Lakes Commercial Finance of 7 loans worth $4.2 million, which gives the first a very large majority. County counts are widely spread: Kalamazoo and Kent show 5 each, Genesee and Oakland show 4 each, and Grand Traverse shows 3. The first corporation's dominance is an organizational fact about who packages 504 deals for Michigan dentists, and a borrower approaching the program will most likely meet it.

Floors

Cancellations account for 6.5% of the earlier approvals, and the same with undisbursed loans counted, a low figure, which tells a borrower that most 504 dental approvals in Michigan did close. A charge-off rate is absent, since too few early loans funded; it is held back and not zero.

What a Michigan dental study must show

The feasibility question is whether a dentist should own the building. The study should compare the cost of the project with leasing similar space, test the practice's patient volume, hygiene capacity and collections, and estimate the time a new office takes to fill chairs. Michigan's payer mix, including public plans and employer insurance in manufacturing areas, can be measured county by county, and the study should do so. Equipment and build-out, including plumbing and imaging, usually make up a large share of a 504 dental project, and each deserves a bid. A request near the $496,000 median should be justified by operatory count and equipment list, line by line. Payment coverage must be demonstrated on cautious patient numbers, and the valuation should show what rent a successor dentist could pay.