SBA 7(a) Hotel Feasibility Study in Pennsylvania

Within Pennsylvania hotels and motels place 8 of 39, and the state's rank on 7(a) hotel volume is 14. Between FY2017 and FY2026 the program approved 233 loans for $595.5 million. A $2.3 million median is 1.05x the 7(a) hotel median nationwide, with $1.3 million to $4.0 million bounding the middle half. Franchise flags mark 72.1% of loans, so flagged properties are the norm. The pattern over time is uneven: 44 loans and $126.4 million in FY2018, but only 12 loans and $22.4 million by FY2025.

Lenders and counties

The lender table begins with Fulton Bank, National Association (23 loans, $63.7 million), then Hanover Community Bank (17, $46.6 million), GBank (15, $44.5 million), Peapack Private Bank and Trust (12, $35.6 million) and Shoreham Bank (11, $49.7 million, the largest average of the five). SBA's figures describe loans held, not any lender's standards. By county, Dauphin has 19 loans, Monroe 15, Lancaster 14, Allegheny 13 and Berks 12, with Clearfield at 7, so the list is spread across many counties.

Floors for cancellation and charge-off

In Pennsylvania, 12.3% or more of FY2017 to FY2024 hotel approvals were cancelled, with the same 12.3% on the wider count. Charge-offs are low: the 126 loans funded in FY2017 to FY2021 show 0.79% at the least, and none (0.00%) after five years. The record therefore shows a meaningful share of approvals that never funded, but few charge-offs among loans that did, and open loans can still change that.

The study a Pennsylvania hotel needs

The shared industry code cannot divide limited-service from full-service properties, so the study should declare its product and use comparables of the same kind. It should build room-night demand from specific sources near the site: named traffic generators such as highways, institutions and events, with seasonality shown month by month and each source tied to a mileage or drive-time radius from the site. A study that names its sources lets the lender judge whether the room-night forecast is earned or assumed, and it shows which assumption would hurt most if it failed. The same discipline applies to the average daily rate: the study should name the competing properties it compares against and explain why the proposed rate is achievable. With most borrowers franchised, brand fees and renovation requirements need explicit lines. The payment must be covered at occupancy below the market average, and the appraisal should be built on stabilized net income. Program terms are published by SBA.