SBA 7(a) Gas Station Feasibility Study in Maryland

A median far below the class nationally

Maryland fuel retail takes strikingly small SBA 7(a) loans against the class elsewhere. The median of $150,000 comes to 0.14x of the national figure, and the central half spans from $50,000 to $901,250, a range that stretches from a micro loan to nearly a million dollars. Maryland has 32 approvals from FY2017 to FY2026 worth $15.9 million. Maryland is 35 among states by count, and gas stations take 19 of 39 within the state.

A single holder and a young series

Only Manufacturers and Traders Trust Company is named in the lender table, with 16 loans valued at $4.5 million, which makes it by far the central lender for Maryland fuel retail in this file. Franchise brands appear in 18.8%. The counties are Anne Arundel with 7 loans, Washington with 6, Montgomery with 5, and Baltimore and Baltimore City with 3 each. FY2026 stands out with 9 loans and $6.3 million, while FY2017 had a single loan of $50,000.

What cannot be reported

Maryland has too few early loans for a cancellation or a charge-off percentage, so those stay unpublished; unpublished does not mean nil. The code names the borrower's industry and nothing about the site, so a station with a store, a truck stop and a travel center all fall together, and the 2022 index lists no line for charging.

Testing a Maryland fuel project

The study should explain why Maryland loans are small: many are likely to buy equipment, refresh a store or finance a lease-hold purchase rather than build from raw land. The first test is traffic and visibility, including commuter flow on the corridor and competing stations. Fuel brings volume while the store brings margin, and the study should split gallons from inside sales and show what happens if the supplier's terms change. Maryland's environmental rules on underground tanks, and the cost of upgrading or removing them, belong in the budget, and a Phase I review is the starting point. For a request above the $150,000 median, the study must show why the site justifies it. The lender's appraisal will treat land and building apart from the operating business, so the study should help by showing earnings that another operator could achieve. Coverage must hold if fuel margins narrow.