SBA 504 Self Storage Feasibility Study in Florida

The highest cancellation rate on these pages

Florida's SBA 504 self storage loans show cancellation after approval of at least 36.2% for approvals made through FY2024, and 46.6% when undisbursed approvals are counted. That is the metric on which the cell differs from its parents, together with the size of the median loan: $1.6 million, 1.78x the nationwide 504 median for self storage. The middle band stretches from $801,750 to $3.0 million. SBA recorded 64 loans worth $121.0 million, and Florida is third among states for the program's storage loans.

Self storage is only 11th of 39 among Florida's asset classes. Franchise ties account for 3.1% of loans, so independent sponsors and regional operators account for nearly all of the record.

The biggest book, 27 loans and $55.2 million, belongs to Florida Business Development Corporation, with Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. next at 24 loans and $42.4 million. Sunshine State Economic Development Corporation holds 7 worth $7.5 million, and Independent Development Services Corporation 6 worth $15.8 million, an unusually heavy average. SBA files list these as current holders and say nothing about how they judge projects. Lee County has 7 loans, Bay, Hillsborough and Marion 5 each, Volusia 4, and Broward and Duval 3 each.

Years and a missing rate

Approvals were 11 in FY2020, 9 in FY2024 with $22.5 million, and only 2 in FY2025. Florida's early funded cohort has too few loans for a printable charge-off rate, so none appears, and the gap is not a zero.

Nothing in the coding singles out RV or boat storage, which is classed as self storage or other warehousing; vehicle storage and ordinary unit rental therefore blend together.

What a Florida storage study must test

Because so many Florida approvals never close, the study should prove readiness before anything else: land under contract, zoning and site plan approval, construction pricing, and the sponsor's equity. Then it should test demand within a short radius by listing the existing facilities, their occupancy and the rents they ask for climate-controlled and ordinary units, and by counting the households and businesses that generate demand. Model a lease-up lasting a year or more with the payment covered during it. Construction cost, land and the appraised value of the finished property must be reconciled, with a case in which a rival facility opens nearby. Insurance and storm exposure belong in the operating costs, and a lender will look for the sponsor's record with comparable projects.