Worked Example: SBA 504 Hotel Feasibility Study in Washington
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a hotel project in Washington, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
1,337 loans inside Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA over FY2017 to FY2026 add up to $647.0 million in gross dollars. Then, Spokane-Spokane Valley stands at 76 of 928 in the field of the full set of core-based areas by loan count. Also, $193,000 marks the midpoint; the middle half extends from $50,000 to $524,000. Locally the median is 0.93x of the national median, which puts ticket size short of the figure for the nation. Then, Spokane-Spokane Valley reads only the counties in its area, never the mix a statewide page shows: 1,337 approvals overall.
1,235 7(a) approvals sit beside 102 loans under 504. In addition, 9.9% of the loans on file belong to franchisees in this area. In turn, across 7(a) cases, the biggest lenders by approvals come out as Washington Trust Bank with 153 loans for $52.2 million, Banner Bank holding 142 loans for $26.7 million, plus Numerica CU with 98 loans and $31.5 million. For context, under 504 loans, the leading program intermediaries on loan count are Northwest Business Development Association holding 49 loans for $38.1 million and Evergreen Business Capital holding 30 loans worth $32.4 million. Then, these names are taken from SBA's own records for 1,337 loans; they show loans approved and no more, never what lenders require near Spokane-Spokane Valley.
Full-service restaurant at 65, limited-service restaurant at 35, fitness center at 29, and 29 in coffee shop and snack bar lead the named classes. Beyond that, 991 approvals lie outside all named classes, so its $647.0 million total reaches beyond what the classes show. In practice, 7 approvals in veterinary clinic within Spokane-Spokane Valley are too few to show a trend. Looking at counties, Spokane County (1,238) followed by Stevens County (99) head the county list. Here, year by year, FY2017 opens at 130 loans and $55.1 million; FY2025 is the peak at 172 loans and $79.6 million, and FY2026, a complete fiscal year, caps the run at 148 loans and $72.7 million.
7.6% among FY2017 through FY2024 approvals in Spokane-Spokane Valley were cancelled before disbursement, which is a floor; 8.3% marks the ceiling if undisbursed loans count. Here, 2.5% among FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans in Spokane-Spokane Valley have been charged off, a floor, across a cohort of 610 disbursed loans. Next, the five-year rate is withheld on this page, and the to-date floor stands alone. Take each share printed here as a lower bound, as approvals made in the latest years received limited runway to cancel or default, across 1,337 loans. In turn, membership in the file is defined as the metro or micro area containing every loan's county of the project, using the July 2023 definitions as adopted; counties were matched on name, while a record whose home county does not map drops out of any area without exception. In practice, inside and outside the classes, any SBA 7(a) or 504 loan in these counties is counted within its $647.0 million total.
Around Spokane-Spokane Valley, a full study aimed at a property opens with the subject property, never the 1,337-loan file. Demand in Spokane-Spokane Valley opens the work: does Spokane-Spokane Valley's household base support the revenue assumed, measured against nearby supply in and near Spokane County? Next, the median here stands at 0.93x of the national median, so ordinary loans stay compact; a project that outsizes them must show comparable deals justify its size. Worth noting: coverage of debt service links demand to cost for Spokane-Spokane Valley: expected net income set against the payments due, with a case of falling revenue. Separately, an independent appraisal ends the sequence in Spokane-Spokane Valley: the as-built value must carry the request asked for. Separately, a client armed with an arm's-length report for Spokane-Spokane Valley, ahead of meeting the lenders above, has faced those floors early; approval is for the underwriters and SBA in Spokane-Spokane Valley, whatever the study finds.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 1,337 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $647.0 million |
| Median loan | $193,000 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $50,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $524,000 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 1,235 |
| SBA 504 loans | 102 |
| Franchise share of loans | 9.9% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 76 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 0.93x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 7.6% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | 8.3% |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | 2.5% |
| Charged off within five years of approval | withheld |
| Loans in that cohort | 610 |
Both rates are floors. SBA withholds the status of open loans, so a loan counts as charged off only once SBA reports it; a rate needs at least 30 loans in its cohort and is otherwise not reported.
SBA loans approved in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 130 | $55.1 million |
| FY2018 | 144 | $57.7 million |
| FY2019 | 148 | $62.9 million |
| FY2020 | 111 | $49.0 million |
| FY2021 | 128 | $82.0 million |
| FY2022 | 106 | $56.9 million |
| FY2023 | 120 | $64.4 million |
| FY2024 | 130 | $66.6 million |
| FY2025 | 172 | $79.6 million |
| FY2026 | 148 | $72.7 million |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 991 |
| Full-service restaurant | 65 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 35 |
| Fitness center | 29 |
| Coffee shop and snack bar | 29 |
| Automotive mechanical repair (car and truck) | 25 |
| Hotel and motel | 22 |
| Gas station and truck stop | 18 |
| Grocery store | 13 |
| Beverage manufacturing (breweries, wineries, distilleries) | 12 |
| Assisted living (without nursing care) | 11 |
| Medical office (physicians) | 11 |
| Child care center | 11 |
| Dental office | 10 |
| Behavioral health and addiction treatment | 10 |
| Beauty salon | 10 |
| Rehabilitation and therapy clinic | 8 |
| Self storage | 7 |
| Veterinary clinic | 7 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Northwest Business Development Association | 49 | $38.1 million |
| Evergreen Business Capital | 30 | $32.4 million |
| Capital Matrix, Inc. | 15 | $14.0 million |
| Ameritrust CDC | 8 | $3.8 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Trust Bank | 153 | $52.2 million |
| Banner Bank | 142 | $26.7 million |
| Numerica CU | 98 | $31.5 million |
| Glacier Bank | 97 | $50.0 million |
| U.S. Bank, National Association | 86 | $22.7 million |
Lenders with 5 or more loans here; a lender with fewer is not listed, and loans SBA or a receiver holds are counted but never listed as a lender.
| County | Loans |
|---|---|
| Spokane County, WA | 1,238 |
| Stevens County, WA | 99 |
Counties with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are not listed.
Metro is the CBSA (metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area) of the loan's project county, July 2023 delineation (OMB Bulletin 23-01). The county is matched by name (manifests/ld2/county-cbsa-map.csv); a loan whose county cannot be placed in a 2023 CBSA is left out of every metro.
All assets: every 7(a) and 504 approval in the metro, including those outside the 39 asset classes.
A value marked withheld rests on fewer than 5 loans, or is withheld so that such a figure cannot be derived from other published figures.
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, 7(a) and 504 loan-level FOIA files (data.sba.gov), as of 2026-09-30; areas from the U.S. Census Bureau CBSA delineation, July 2023 (OMB Bulletin 23-01); Loan Analytics metro cell MT-44060.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a hotel project in Washington, financed with an SBA 504 loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA Metro Area, financed under SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA Business and Industry or a conventional bank loan. Tell us the project and the lender's deadline, and we reply with scope, timeline and fee.
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