SBA 504 Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Florida

Second among states, first in cancellations

Florida ranks 2 among states for SBA 504 veterinary clinic loans by count, with 47 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 and $39.5 million in dollars. What distinguishes the cell is how many never funded: 31.6% of the earlier approvals ended in cancellation at the very least, and the ceiling with loans not yet disbursed is 47.4%. That is The median loan is $538,000, 0.86x of the 504 national median for veterinary clinics, and half the loans run from $326,000 to $1.1 million.

Two corporations share the file

Two holders carry most of the state's total: Florida First Capital Finance Corporation, Inc. has 24 loans at $21.2 million, and Florida Business Development Corporation has 22 at $18.2 million. Miami-Dade County has 6 loans, Broward and Pinellas have 5 each, and Lake has 3. Annual approvals grew from 1 in FY2017 to 8 in FY2020 and stayed in the range of 6 to 4 afterward. Clinics rank 14 of 39 among Florida asset types, and franchising is 0.00%.

The withheld rate

No loss rate prints for this cell, since the early funded group is thin. Reading the omission as safety would be an error, and so would reading it as danger: this cell simply has no loss measure to offer a lender yet. Borrowers and lenders working in this class should lean on the site-level due diligence described below, and the clinic's own financial statements, until a loss rate is measurable.

Study questions for a 504 clinic

With about a third of approvals falling away, the study should test what could prevent a closing: site control, environmental review of a former commercial site, zoning for animal boarding and noise, and construction pricing. It should establish the market for pet care in the catchment, competing hospitals and emergency clinics, and the doctor staffing that will fill appointments. The 504 structure suits real estate and equipment, so the study should separate building cost from practice goodwill and show the owner's equity. Coverage should hold on a conservative ramp of visits, and the appraisal will test whether another veterinarian could pay the implied rent. Cancelled approvals also cost borrowers time and fees, so the schedule should carry a realistic closing date and a contingency for permitting, utility connections and lender conditions that reach beyond the plan itself.