Worked Example: SBA 7(a) Change of Ownership of an Express Tunnel Car Wash, Feasibility Study in Alabama
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Alabama, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
What SBA's own loan files show about lending in the Tuscaloosa, AL Metro Area, every asset class together, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.
Project sites in Tuscaloosa drew 178 SBA approvals across the Tuscaloosa, AL metro area between FY2017 and FY2026, worth $85.3 million in gross dollars. By loan count, Tuscaloosa ranks 338 of 928 against every other statistical area, Tuscaloosa among them. The median ticket in Tuscaloosa is $229,350, whereas the middle half span $100,000 to $572,375. The local median stands at 1.10x against the national median, which keeps Tuscaloosa close to the national Tuscaloosa norm on ticket size.
The metro area shows 157 loans under 7(a), against 21 under 504. Most Tuscaloosa borrowers therefore meet the 7(a) rules. For Tuscaloosa, the franchise share of Tuscaloosa loans is 20.2%. On the 7(a) side, BankFirst Financial Services leads with 30 loans and $11.3 million, and Wells Fargo Bank National Association Tuscaloosa comes next with 12 loans and $157,500. Further down, The Huntington National Bank shows 10 loans, and Northeast Bank (ME) at 10. The 504 table is headed by Southern Development Council, at 10 loans and $4.6 million, just ahead of Florida Business Development Corporation at 5. These are SBA's records of Tuscaloosa loans held or once held. BankFirst Financial Services appears since SBA names it as the Tuscaloosa holder; the Tuscaloosa list neither praises nor faults any holder.
Most of the Tuscaloosa total sits outside the tracked asset classes: 118 loans that carry codes outside the Tuscaloosa table. The Tuscaloosa class rows therefore describe a minority of Tuscaloosa lending. The Tuscaloosa class table opens with full-service restaurant, 14 loans, then limited-service restaurant with 12, and dental office at 5. Tuscaloosa County, AL is the largest source of loans, with 167. A project in one Tuscaloosa county meets other land costs, so the Tuscaloosa figure hides some spread.
Looking at FY2017 to FY2024 approvals, Tuscaloosa cancellations came to at least 11.0%. A ceiling for Tuscaloosa would sit above 11.0%, but as the Tuscaloosa number is held back at the source. For Tuscaloosa, no charge-off rate is shown for Tuscaloosa: too few Tuscaloosa loans reached the funded cohort, so Tuscaloosa gets no Tuscaloosa rate, and a blank never means none. The busiest year was FY2017, with 21 loans for $5.2 million; the thinnest Tuscaloosa year before FY2026 was FY2022, with 15 loans for $3.5 million. Years that rest on very few loans are withheld from the table, and no stand-in figure is supplied for them. A loan joins the Tuscaloosa, AL figures through its project county, as with Tuscaloosa County, AL or Tuscaloosa County, AL, county membership follows the 2023 delineation, though a county with no Tuscaloosa name match adds nothing to Tuscaloosa.
A study for a Tuscaloosa project must start from one Tuscaloosa site and one county, because the Tuscaloosa counties inside the metro Tuscaloosa area are not alike. Reading the Tuscaloosa table from the top, Tuscaloosa full-service restaurant comes first, and the analysis should test seats against realistic covers, liquor licence timing and cost and how Tuscaloosa diners split by daypart. A Tuscaloosa request in limited-service restaurant turn on competing quick-service sites nearby, with the delivery platforms' share of sales close behind. Debt service coverage in Tuscaloosa needs to stand up to a slow Tuscaloosa season; comparable sales near the Tuscaloosa site must support the value.
| Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026 | 178 |
|---|---|
| Gross dollars approved | $85.3 million |
| Median loan | $229,350 |
| Middle half of loans, from | $100,000 |
| Middle half of loans, to | $572,375 |
| SBA 7(a) loans | 157 |
| SBA 504 loans | 21 |
| Franchise share of loans | 20.2% |
| Rank among metro and micro areas by loans | 338 of 928 |
| Median loan against the national median | 1.10x |
| Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor) | 11.0% |
|---|---|
| The same, counting loans still undisbursed as cancelled (a ceiling) | withheld |
| Charged off to date, FY2017 to FY2021 disbursed loans (a floor) | withheld |
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 Tuscaloosa, AL Metro Area, by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 21 | $5.2 million |
| FY2018 | 17 | $6.2 million |
| FY2019 | 17 | $13.2 million |
| FY2020 | 21 | $14.2 million |
| FY2021 | 21 | $14.7 million |
| FY2022 | 15 | $3.5 million |
| FY2023 | 17 | $8.9 million |
| FY2024 | 16 | $8.7 million |
| FY2025 | withheld | withheld |
| FY2026 | withheld | withheld |
| Asset class | Loans |
|---|---|
| Not in any of the 39 asset classes | 118 |
| Full-service restaurant | 14 |
| Limited-service restaurant | 12 |
| Dental office | 5 |
Classes with 5 or more loans; smaller ones are withheld, and more where a small one could be derived.
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| Southern Development Council | 10 | $4.6 million |
| Florida Business Development Corporation | 5 | $5.7 million |
| Lender | Loans | Dollars |
|---|---|---|
| BankFirst Financial Services | 30 | $11.3 million |
| Wells Fargo Bank National Association | 12 | $157,500 |
| The Huntington National Bank | 10 | $2.6 million |
| Northeast Bank (ME) | 10 | $1.6 million |
| Pinnacle Bank (TN) | 9 | $7.0 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 |
|---|---|
| Tuscaloosa County, AL | 167 |
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-46220.
A worked example of the feasibility study a lender would read for a car wash project in Alabama, financed with an SBA 7(a) loan.
Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a commercial project in the Tuscaloosa, AL 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.
Start with the data.
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