SBA 504 Self Storage Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

First in the nation by count, with a lender to match

Wisconsin ranks first among states for SBA 504 self storage loans, with 74 loans worth $55.3 million, and self storage stands third of 39 among the state's asset classes. One organisation dominates: WBD, Inc. holds 66 of the 74 loans, worth $48.3 million. That concentration is the cell's most unusual feature, and it describes who holds the paper, not how WBD, Inc. evaluates a project. The median loan of $556,000 is 0.62x the nationwide 504 typical for self storage, and the bulk of loans runs from $347,000 to $1.0 million. No loan carries a franchise tie.

Approvals were 3 or 4 a year in FY2017 to FY2019, then jumped to 16 in FY2020, and 17 in both FY2021 and FY2022, each year carrying between $12.1 million and $12.7 million. After that they fell back to 4 in FY2023, 2 in FY2024 and 3 in FY2026. A study should note that the large body of loans comes from one short window, and the record of those loans rests mostly on that period.

La Crosse County has 10 loans, Dane 8, Washington 5, and Jefferson, Saint Croix and Waukesha 4 each, with Manitowoc at 3.

Cancellations and charge-offs

Cancellation after approval among Wisconsin storage loans from FY2017 to FY2024 starts at 10.4%, or 13.4% counting undisbursed loans. The early funded cohort has 40 loans and shows no charge-offs, with 0.00% at both horizons. That is a floor, and the burst of 2020 to 2022 loans has had little time to season.

No separate code exists for RV and boat storage, which SBA files under self storage or other warehousing. Vehicle storage and ordinary unit rental are therefore mixed in the counts, and a study should say which product it describes.

What a Wisconsin storage study must test

Self storage depends on supply and demand in a small radius. The study should count the existing storage facilities and their rented square feet near the site, the households and businesses that generate demand, and the rent per square foot of both climate-controlled and standard units. The lease-up period, often a year or more for a new facility, must be modelled with the loan payment covered during it. Construction cost, site work and the property's appraised value should be reconciled, and the study should test the effect of a competitor opening nearby. Winter operating costs, security, and the ability to convert the building to another use if demand fails belong in the analysis.