Self Storage Feasibility Study in Massachusetts

Massachusetts is a state where self storage borrows large and rarely. SBA approved 33 self storage loans there from FY2017 to FY2026, worth $64.7 million, ranking the state 27 of 50 for the class and placing storage 19 of 39 among Massachusetts asset classes. The location quotient of 0.44x shows storage is a much thinner part of the state's SBA book than of the national one. Yet the median loan, $1.6 million, is 1.75x the national class median, and the middle band of approvals spans $681,000 up to $2.5 million. Together they describe few facilities, each financed at a heavy scale.

Programs, lenders and counties

Twenty of the 33 loans ride on 7(a) and 13 on 504. Franchise lending is a footnote at 6.1% of loans. Live Oak Banking Company holds 12 of the 7(a) loans, worth $32.4 million, a concentration worth noting, because a single holder carries a big share of the dollars. Under 504, Granite State Economic Development Corporation leads with 8 loans and $11.2 million. By county, Worcester has 8 loans and Hampden 7, ahead of Essex and Plymouth at 4 each.

A lumpy approval history

Annual counts swing widely. FY2020 shows no approvals and $0, FY2021 jumps to 8 loans and $12.9 million, and FY2022 follows with 5 loans and $18.0 million. FY2025 slips to 3 loans and $1.2 million before FY2026 records 2 loans and $6.8 million. With so few loans a single large project can reshape a year, so a study should not extrapolate a trend from this series. The cancellation and charge-off floors are withheld by Loan Analytics here: fewer than 30 loans make up the cohort, which leaves no figure for either; silence is not read as zero.

Coding limit and what the study must prove

SBA's industry codes cannot separate RV and boat storage from self storage, and that use may appear under self storage or under other warehousing. A Massachusetts study should therefore establish the unit mix and the customer base directly. It has to measure existing storage supply within the trade area. Construction cost should be set against a ticket that usually lands well above the national median, and debt service coverage tested through a drawn-out fill period plus a slower variant. The appraiser will value the stabilized income, so the rent assumptions must rest on observed local rates.