SBA 504 Veterinary Clinic Feasibility Study in Texas

Texas is third among states for 504 veterinary clinic lending by loan count, and the class ranks 15 of 39 inside Texas. This cell's median loan of $1.1 million is 1.68x the nationwide 504 veterinary median, and the middle half runs from $630,500 to $2.0 million. The 34 loans carry $47.5 million. Compared with Wisconsin under 7(a), where the median is a third of that, the Texas 504 clinic is a building-heavy project. No loan was franchised.

Capital Certified and the others

Capital Certified Development Corporation holds 13 loans and $22.0 million, LiftFund, Inc. 6 and $3.5 million, with Greater East Texas Certified Development Company at 5 and $7.4 million. Capital's average is far above LiftFund's, so the large clinic buildings are concentrated there. Nothing in that list ranks the quality of any company. Counties are widely scattered: Williamson has 4 loans, and Brazos, Collin, Harris, Lubbock, Tarrant and Travis have 2 each.

Years

FY2017 had 4 loans and $2.6 million, FY2018 only 2, then FY2019 and FY2020 5 each, with FY2021 at 4 and $7.5 million. FY2022 stands out with a lone loan of $783,000. Then 4, 4, 3 and 2 loans followed, the last at $4.4 million. Large dollar amounts on few loans mean that a single hospital-scale clinic can set the year.

Rates not given

Both Texas clinic cohorts sit under the publishing minimum, so no cancellation or charge-off rate appears; the blanks are not zeros, and a lender should ask for the borrower's own history of closings. A lender should not assume either is zero.

What a Texas clinic building study should show

A clinic loan of this size usually buys or builds the property, so the study should test the construction cost per square foot, the number of exam rooms and surgical suites the practice will use, and the share of income from surgery, boarding and wellness visits. It should estimate pet households and competing clinics in the trade area, and the staffing pool of veterinarians and technicians. Model a slow ramp-up and require an appraisal view on what another tenant would pay for a purpose-built clinic. The study should also document zoning for animal boarding or noise, because a clinic site that cannot be permitted for kennels loses a revenue line the plan may count on.