SBA 7(a) Data Center Feasibility Study in Florida

Florida data center lending in SBA's records

In Florida, SBA 7(a) approved 60 loans in the data center class. Across FY2017 to FY2026 in Florida that came to $38.6 million gross. Counting data center loans, Florida ranks 4 across states for data center under this program, and data center sits 23 of 39 among Florida classes. A median of $256,750 is 1.28x of the national data center median under SBA 7(a), so Florida runs above the norm. For data center in Florida, the middle half spans $140,500 to $546,875, and franchise flags mark 0.00% of Florida data center loans.

Who holds the data center loans, and where

The largest named data center holder in Florida is Newtek Bank, National Association: 14 loans worth $13.5 million; behind it Wells Fargo Bank National Association, 6 loans ($1.0 million); Readycap Lending, LLC, 5 loans ($5.3 million). Holders in Florida are those SBA currently lists. The Florida data center county count starts with Miami-Dade at 13, Broward at 10, Palm Beach at 7, Hillsborough at 5, Orange at 5.

Timing of Florida approvals

The Florida data center calendar shows 1 loan ($20,000) in FY2019, then in Florida 4 in FY2020 ($590,000), and in Florida 9 in FY2021 ($12.0 million), 0 in FY2023 ($0) and 14 in FY2024 ($11.9 million) against Florida's peak of 14 in FY2024. FY2023 show no Florida data center approvals.

Data center cancel and charge-off floors

In Florida, approval did not always mean a data center loan: of FY2017 to FY2024 Florida approvals, at least 14.3% ended in Florida cancellation, with 14.3% the ceiling if undisbursed data center loans are added. The data center cohort funded in Florida is too small, so Florida holds no stable charge-off rate for data center loans in Florida funded FY2017 to FY2021; Florida withholds the rate, and Florida lenders should not read it as zero.

Florida: what a data center study has to prove

Power drives everything: a Florida study must show utility capacity and cost, backup generation, cooling, and exposure to storm and flood on the site. It then has to establish who will buy racks or cabinets, on what contract terms, and how fast, since lease-up governs debt service coverage. Fit-out spending should be set against a $256,750 median, and the appraiser will value contracted income, not hoped-for demand. Fibre routes and carrier presence deserve their own section.

Florida facilities and hosting firms in one code

Because the code also takes in data processing and hosting businesses, a colocation building in Florida cannot be told apart from an operating firm, and some loans counted here may have financed a company's services. The study should state which its project is.