SBA 7(a) Gas Station Feasibility Study in Georgia

Georgia gas stations under 7(a): franchised, large and often cancelled

Georgia ranks 4 among states for 7(a) gas station and truck stop loans, with 509 approvals in FY2017 to FY2026 worth $723.7 million, and the class is also 4 of 39 inside Georgia. Cancellation is the metric where the cell differs: the cancelled share of approvals through FY2024 has a floor of 20.0%, and the ceiling comes out no higher, even with undisbursed loans counted. Cancellation is therefore the dominant risk before closing, a pattern both lender and borrower should plan around.

Large tickets and a franchise-heavy book

The median loan is $1.1 million, 0.98x the nationwide 7(a) benchmark for fuel stops, and borrowers in the middle range take $613,400 up to $2.0 million. Franchised sites account for 55.6% of loans, a majority. Holders in rank order are Metro City Bank (58 loans, $75.2 million), HomeTrust Bank (56, $63.6 million), Georgia's Own Credit Union (45, $85.7 million), Embassy National Bank (34, $42.8 million) and PromiseOne Bank (28, $40.3 million). SBA's entries show who holds or held each loan. Gwinnett County has 36 loans, DeKalb 33, Cobb 32, Fulton 29, Cherokee 22, Walton 16, Barrow, Hall and Richmond 15 each, and Rockdale 14.

Charge-offs are the opposite story

Looking at the 267 loans funded in FY2017 through FY2021, the charge-off floor is 0.37% so far, and no loan was lost inside five years (0.00%). Those printed values are floors on a mature cohort, not a guarantee for newer loans, and they sit alongside the high cancellation figure.

Tests for a Georgia gas station project

A study should begin with traffic: counts on the adjoining roads, the access and visibility of the site, and competing fuel stops. It should test fuel volume and in-store sales separately, because margins differ, along with the budget for tanks, canopies and environmental compliance, set against a ticket near $1.1 million. The franchise agreement, if any, shapes both cost and margin. Because so many approvals are cancelled, the study should also confirm the path to closing: site control, permits and a contingency for delay. An appraiser will value the real estate and business separately.

Coding follows the borrower's own industry, which keeps truck stops and travel centers inseparable from ordinary fuel stations, and charging sites do not appear at all because the 2022 index lists no entry for them.