SBA 7(a) Flex Space Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

Wisconsin flex: low loan size, one loss on the board

Wisconsin flex buildings borrow at a lower midpoint than the nation: $350,000, or 0.59x the national 7(a) lessor midpoint. The 52 loans on file total $35.0 million, with the middle half between $207,075 and $738,750. The state ranks 9 against other states in volume, though the class is 17 of 39 in Wisconsin's own mix. Franchised loans make up 9.6%. Wisconsin is one of the few cells where charge-offs show: among 33 loans funded in the earliest cohorts, 3.0% have been charged off so far, a floor, with 3.0% as the five-year reading too.

The lessor code and the FY2024 break

The class is nonresidential lessor, inside which flex is indistinguishable from office and retail landlords; one code is shared by those uses and by banquet hall rental. SBA lessor lending nearly stops from FY2024, which the yearly counts make visible: 13 loans in FY2021 and 9 in each of FY2019 and FY2022, then 1 in FY2024, none in FY2025 with $0, and 1 in FY2026. A reader should not mistake that collapse for a lack of Wisconsin flex demand.

Lenders and places

One name appears in the holder table: CCFBank National Association, 8 loans and $6.5 million, as SBA lists it now. Dane, Juneau, La Crosse and Waukesha counties each show 4 loans, Milwaukee 3 and Polk 3, which makes the geography scattered rather than centered on one metro. Cancellation takes at least 9.8% of Wisconsin approvals dated through FY2024, and no more than that on the ceiling measure.

Tests for a Wisconsin flex building

Prove a tenant base for a building that mixes office, light assembly and storage. Gather vacancy and asking rents for comparable flex space in the chosen county, the lease terms of existing tenants and their industries, and the cost of finish for the users in prospect. Because the one visible loss rate is 3.0%, treat lessor lending as carrying real risk: run coverage with a vacancy case and with a roll-over of the largest lease. An owner-user must show the occupant's income can carry the payment on its own. An investor must show the rent roll does. The appraisal rests on income and sales of similar buildings, so reconcile the rent assumed with both, and note the thin lending record since FY2024.