SBA 504 Fitness Center Feasibility Study in Florida

Florida fitness centres under 504: third nationally, a high cancellation floor

Florida is third among states for SBA 504 fitness-centre lending, though the class places 9 of 39 inside Florida. The cell recorded 69 loans worth $64.5 million across FY2017 to FY2026. Loan size is $579,000 at the median, 0.74x of the national 504 level, and half the loans sit in a range from $335,000 to $1.1 million. Franchise brands appear on 10.1% of loans. The 504 structure pays for fixed assets, so these loans mostly finance a building or a long-lived build-out, arranged through a certified development company that works with a private lender. That differs from the working-capital and equipment loans typical of the 7(a) side.

Development companies and places

The names in SBA's listing are development companies. At the head, Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. is credited with 42 loans and $34.5 million; Florida Business Development Corporation with 22 and $27.1 million; and Sunshine State Economic Development Corporation with just 5 and $2.9 million. The page records the organisation shown on each loan and does not assess any of them. Broward County has 8 loans, Miami-Dade, Pinellas, Saint Johns and Volusia 6 each, and Duval 5. The series climbed from 3 loans and $2.0 million in FY2018 to 15 loans and $11.6 million in FY2022, held at 10 loans and $13.2 million in FY2023, and eased to 6 loans and $6.8 million in FY2026.

Cancellation, and a rate we do not print

The cancellation floor is high: at least 16.9% of approvals through FY2024, and 22.0% when undisbursed loans are counted as cancelled. More than one in five approved projects, on the broader reading, did not fund. Too few of the earliest funded loans exist to print a loss rate, so the figure is withheld. Do not read it as zero; it is simply not reported.

A Florida study for a 504 fitness loan has to justify real estate as well as a club. Members drawn from a trade area, the pace of joining, attrition, and the mix of monthly and annual contracts determine revenue, but so does the value of the building if the club closed. The study should map rival clubs, boutique studios and discount chains in the county concerned. Hurricane exposure, flood zone status and insurance belong in operating costs. Because cancellations are frequent here, the study should show that zoning, permits and construction pricing are settled before the lender relies on them. Show debt service with weaker membership growth; whoever appraises it will value a building first and a gym second. Program terms are SBA's to apply.