Self Storage Feasibility Study in Pennsylvania

Small loans in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania storage lending is smaller in scale than the national norm. The state's record shows 47 loans between FY2017 and FY2026, worth $37.6 million. The median loan of $485,000 is only 0.52x the national storage median, the distinctive metric here, and half of loans fall between $295,000 and $1.2 million. The class ranks 20 of 50 among the states and 20 of 39 within Pennsylvania, and a location quotient of 0.58x says storage is underweight against the national share of loans. Taken together, the loans in this record are modest in size.

Lenders and counties

SBA 7(a) accounted for 32 loans and SBA 504 for 15, with franchise brands at 10.6%. The 504 table is led by NEPA Alliance Business Finance Corporation, with 6 loans worth $2.0 million. Live Oak Banking Company leads the guaranteed term loans with 12 loans for $12.8 million, and First Commonwealth Bank is next with 7 loans and $2.0 million. The geography is spread across the state: Lackawanna County has 5 loans, Fayette and Westmoreland counties 4 each, and Allegheny and Bucks counties 3 each. Bradford, Franklin, Monroe, Venango and York counties have 2 each.

The cycle

Annual volume moved from 1 loan worth $350,000 in FY2018 to 10 loans and $6.3 million in FY2021, with 9 loans and $7.1 million in FY2022. Since then approvals have run at 5, 2, 4 and 3 loans in FY2023 to FY2026, and the complete year FY2026 brought $651,000 on 3 loans. The record shows the counts and dollars only and gives no reason for the lower years, so a lender should not read a cause into them.

Dropped approvals and an unreported loss rate

At least 12.5% of approvals between FY2017 and FY2024 fell through before funding, and the stricter count of unfunded loans matches it. Fewer than 30 early loans were disbursed, so Loan Analytics holds back the charge-off rate, a rule of its own page design, and the blank must not be read as a clean record.

What the study should demonstrate

Storage is a trade-area business. A Pennsylvania study should draw a drive-time ring, count existing rentable square feet per household, and test street rates against nearby facilities with and without climate control. With a median near $485,000 a project is probably a small facility, so land cost, site work and zoning approvals for the specific parcel will carry the budget. Show repayment at stabilised occupancy and through a slow lease-up. An appraiser will capitalise net income at stabilisation. The code lumps recreational vehicle and boat storage with ordinary storage, so a project built for vehicles should be weighed with that in mind.