SBA 504 Quick Service Restaurant Feasibility Study in Colorado

Quick service restaurant loans in Colorado: size and franchising

SBA approved 30 SBA 504 loans for quick service restaurants in Colorado over FY2017 to FY2026, $24.0 million in gross dollars. From $366,750 to $1.3 million covers the middle half of the Colorado loans, around a median of $538,500. On the SBA 504 scale nationwide, Colorado quick service restaurants read 0.84x, which puts Colorado below the national figure for quick service restaurants. The franchise share, 63.3%, shows how much of this quick service restaurants lending flows through brand systems in Colorado.

Rank 18 among states and 8 of 39 among Colorado classes: that is how Colorado quick service restaurants stand under SBA 504. Approvals in Colorado peaked in FY2017 at 6 loans worth $2.0 million, and no loans appear for FY2026. Colorado's 504 fast-food loans are mostly franchised and sit below the national median, so the program funds branded units' real estate and equipment more than independent ones.

Most Colorado loans sit with B:Side Capital, which holds 14 worth $10.3 million. After it, SBA shows Pikes Peak Regional Development Corporation with 6 loans worth $4.1 million and Preferred Lending Partners with 5 loans worth $2.6 million. B:Side Capital opens SBA's list for Colorado quick service restaurants; the 30 loans show holders past and present in Colorado, not how any lends. The Colorado loans cluster in El Paso, which has 7; Pueblo has 4 and Larimer has 3. Further down the list stand Weld 3, Denver 2 and Garfield 2.

What the Colorado outcome figures leave out

Of 30 Colorado loans, few Colorado approvals sit in the FY2024 cohort, and the Colorado funded cohort cannot carry a loss rate. Neither blank is a zero. Financing without SBA never enters Colorado's tables.

What a Colorado fast-food study must show

A 504 request funds the real estate, so land, building and equipment should be priced separately. Count traffic at the site near El Paso and show what a drive-thru lane captures at the hours that matter. Most borrowers here are franchised, so the franchisor's disclosure and unit economics belong in the file. Food, labor and royalties decide what is left for payments on a loan near $538,500. Hours and labor scheduling set the cost floor. The appraised figure depends on the price another operator would give for the property.