SBA 7(a) Self Storage Feasibility Study in Wisconsin

A single bank and a vanishing pipeline

Wisconsin self storage holds 65 SBA 7(a) loans and $61.5 million in gross dollars; Wisconsin ranks 6th among states for the pairing, while storage is the 15 of 39 class at home. The median is what stands out: $467,000, only 0.48x the national median. The middle of the book runs from $205,000 to $1.0 million, and the franchise share is 3.1%. Self storage is a real estate asset, and a median that low points to small conversions and modest new facilities more than to large institutional builds.

Bank Five Nine holds 32 loans. Summit CU holds 7, and Live Oak Banking Company 5. The table is SBA's current-holder field, which cannot show how any lender approaches storage. County counts are small and scattered: Dane and Waukesha have 7 each, Columbia 6, Sheboygan 5, and Milwaukee and Rock 4. The notable fact is time. Volume was 14 loans and $17.9 million in FY2017 and 15 loans and $21.0 million in FY2018, then fell to 2 loans in FY2024, 1 loan and $325,000 in FY2025 and 2 loans and $957,000 in FY2026.

Floors

Cancellations floor at 14.5%, and the ceiling is identical. Across 43 funded loans, the charge-off floor shows 0.00% today and 0.00% by the fifth year; it logs no charge-off in SBA's file and promises nothing about later years. Our distinctness margin singled out the median only, so cancellation and losses look much like Wisconsin lending generally and storage nationally.

Coding limits and what a Wisconsin study must prove

Storage for boats and recreational vehicles has no code of its own and is filed as either self storage or other warehousing, so the cell cannot isolate it. A Wisconsin study should say which product is planned: climate-controlled units, drive-up units, outdoor vehicle storage, or a mix. It should test supply within a realistic radius, since oversupply is the main risk, along with household and business demand, rental rates found by survey, lease-up speed and the cost of land and construction. Because the pipeline of SBA storage loans has thinned, the study should say why this project is financeable now. Cover debt service on a slow fill. The appraiser will value the real estate on achieved rents and occupancy, so the study should show where those numbers come from.