SBA 7(a) Self Storage Feasibility Study in Utah

Utah storage loans: cancellations are the distinctive metric

The measure that sets Utah self storage under 7(a) apart is cancellation: 22.0% of approvals through FY2024 did not proceed, a floor that has an identical ceiling, and our test finds it distinctive. The size of the ticket is the second sign. A median of $482,950 is only 0.50x the nationwide figure, yet the central loans run up to $1.8 million, from $339,825. The record holds 44 approvals worth $52.8 million; franchising is 6.8%. Utah ranks 13 among states by count, and storage places 15 of 39 inside Utah.

Credit unions and a national lender

Mountain America FCU shows 13 loans and $12.5 million. Live Oak Banking Company is recorded at 6 loans and $11.4 million, the larger sum per loan, with America First Federal Credit Union also at 6 loans but $5.9 million. SBA's file names current holders. Davis and Uintah counties each have 6 loans, Cache 5, Salt Lake and Utah 4, Box Elder 3. Approvals ran 7 loans and $12.7 million in FY2020 and 9 loans and $9.4 million in FY2021, then slid to 1 loan and $350,000 in FY2026.

Utah has too few early funded loans for a charge-off rate to be printed. The blank is no claim of zero.

How to use the cancellation figure and what to test

More than one approval in five falling through is a reason for a borrower to settle land control, zoning and permits early. A feasibility study for a Utah storage project should compare the facility to others in the trade area, including their unit mix, their rents and how full they appear, and should size the site for the demand around it, which will differ between a growing Wasatch suburb and a rural Uintah community. Construction cost and site work, particularly where terrain or winter conditions matter, should be line-itemed. Since SBA's coding cannot separate RV and boat storage from ordinary storage, a project geared to vehicles needs its own demand test. Lease-up is the key risk: show the months to stabilisation and the interest carried meanwhile. An appraiser will look to stabilised income, so the study should make the path there explicit.

A loan sized near the $482,950 median suggests a smaller project than the $1.8 million end of the range. The study should state which scale it follows, since a modest facility, an expansion of units on land the borrower already holds, and a new site each carry different cost and lease-up risk.