SBA 7(a) Self Storage Feasibility Study in Florida

Third in the nation, and one lender in front

Florida holds third place among states for self-storage loans in this program, but the class sits only 19 of 39 inside Florida, so storage is a national strength more than a local one. The cell counts 80 loans and $145.8 million in gross dollars for FY2017 to FY2026. Its $1.2 million median is 1.20x the nationwide reading, and loans in the middle of the book span $549,525 to $2.8 million. Franchise brands are on 8.8% of loans. What distinguishes the cell is concentration: Live Oak Banking Company is credited with 41 loans worth $103.9 million, and Bank Five Nine with 16 worth $17.2 million. These are holder entries from SBA and say nothing about how either institution underwrites.

Where the loans are

Polk County has 9 loans, Duval and Hillsborough have 5 each, and Charlotte, Lee, Manatee and Santa Rosa have 4 each, so the pattern is spread across the state with no coastal metro dominating. Approvals were 13 loans and $21.3 million in FY2018, only 1 loan worth $548,100 in FY2020, 14 loans and $25.7 million in FY2021, and 10 loans and $19.9 million in FY2026. The swings reflect a class in which a few large projects move the total.

Floors for cancellation and losses

At least 7.8% of approvals through FY2024 were cancelled, and 9.4% once loans not yet funded are added in. For the 44 loans funded early, 2.3% show a charge-off to date, while the first five years read 0.00%, so any losses came late. These are minimums, because other loans are still open.

Storage for RVs and boats lacks its own code; it can be classed as self storage or as warehousing of another sort, so a Florida project of that type should explain how it relates to this class.

Supply deserves as much testing as demand in a Florida self-storage study. It should count existing facilities and square feet per household within a short drive, note projects under construction or entitled, and show achievable rents per square foot for climate-controlled and standard units. Lease-up is slow for new facilities, so the model should include months of low occupancy and the concessions used to fill. Hurricane exposure, flood zone status and insurance cost belong in operating expenses. With a median above a million dollars, most loans finance land and buildings, so the appraisal will compare the project with sales of comparable facilities, and the study's stabilised occupancy should be consistent with those. Coverage must hold during lease-up.