Warehouse Feasibility Study in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area

What SBA's own loan files show about warehouse and distribution lending in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area, and what a feasibility study for a project there has to test.

Daniel Smith, MAI

The warehouse record in Chicago

From FY2017 to FY2026, Chicago had 30 SBA-approved warehouse loans worth $33.3 million. Chicago, on warehouse loans, holds place 3 of 184 among areas. Inside Chicago, warehouse places 22 of 39. Chicago's quotient is 1.33x: warehouse above the national share. Chicago counties lie in IL and IN.

Chicago loan sizes and mix

Loan size in Chicago centres on $539,050, and its middle half runs between $218,750 and $1.6 million. Chicago stands at 1.08x against the national class median. Chicago loans run above the national middle. Chicago counts 21 loans under SBA 7(a). Chicago counts 9 under SBA 504. Chicago 504 loans fund property and equipment. In Chicago, 7(a) adds working capital or acquisitions. Chicago prints no franchise share. Too few Chicago loans support one. Chicago loans run larger. Chicago borrowers carry a heavier payment, which Chicago studies test.

Chicago: lenders and counties

Chicago SBA 7(a) holder: 7 loans, $4.6 million, The Huntington National Bank. Listed Chicago names are current holders, per SBA. Chicago rows speak to files, not requirements. Chicago borrowers see holders, not lenders. Chicago has one county, Cook County, IL, with all 20 loans.

Chicago floors, limits and yearly record

Few Chicago years print. Chicago shows 5 loans, $5.6 million, in FY2018. Chicago shows 5 loans, $4.9 million, in FY2021. Chicago shows 0 loans, $0, in FY2024. Other Chicago years stay blank on thin counts. Chicago blanks are silence, never zero, and Chicago treats FY2026 as complete. Floors in Chicago follow Loan Analytics' own rule. The Chicago cohort holds fewer than 30 loans. Chicago disbursements cover FY2017 to FY2021. No Chicago cancellation floor prints. No Chicago charge-off floor prints either. Chicago's blank floor is no zero. Chicago borrowers learn little from it. Any Chicago rate that prints is a floor. Chicago follows July 2023 boundaries. Chicago places loans by project county. Chicago drops loans lacking a placeable county. Chicago note: The class covers public warehousing only; warehouses owned by businesses in other industries are coded to those industries.

Chicago: warehouse feasibility questions

Chicago warehouse projects open with the $539,050 median, a size check for Chicago. A warehouse study in Chicago tests the tenant side: who would use public warehousing there, and on what lease terms. In Chicago, clear height, dock doors and truck access are physical tests that decide whether a building fits the users it targets. A Chicago lender will ask for the lease-up schedule, since empty space produces no income but still carries taxes and a loan payment. Daniel Smith, MAI, signs each Chicago study. Chicago demand and cost come first. In Chicago, coverage follows, then the appraisal. No Chicago approval is promised by any study.

SBA warehouse and distribution loans in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area

Loans approved, FY2017 to FY2026	30
Gross dollars approved	$33.3 million
Median loan	$539,050
Middle half of loans, from	$218,750
Middle half of loans, to	$1.6 million
SBA 7(a) loans	21
SBA 504 loans	9
Franchise share of loans	withheld
Rank among metro and micro areas for warehouse and distribution loans	3 of 184
Rank of warehouse and distribution among the classes in this area	22 of 39
Location quotient (share of loans against the national share)	1.33x
Median loan against the national median for the class	1.08x

Cancellation and charge-off

Cancelled after approval, FY2017 to FY2024 approvals (a floor)	not reported: fewer than 30 loans in the cohort
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 warehouse and distribution loans approved in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN Metro Area, by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Loans	Dollars
FY2017	withheld	withheld
FY2018	5	$5.6 million
FY2019	withheld	withheld
FY2020	withheld	withheld
FY2021	5	$4.9 million
FY2022	withheld	withheld
FY2023	withheld	withheld
FY2024	0	$0
FY2025	withheld	withheld
FY2026	withheld	withheld

Most active SBA lenders

SBA 7(a): lenders by loans approved (the current holder of each loan, as SBA reports it)
Lender	Loans	Dollars
The Huntington National Bank	7	$4.6 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.

Where the loans are, by county

County	Loans
Cook County, IL	20

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.

Public warehousing only; owner-occupied warehouses of other industries are coded to those industries.

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 MA-16980-C10.

Related feasibility study pages

Loan Analytics prepares the feasibility study a lender reads before it commits: for a warehouse and distribution project in the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN 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.

Daniel Smith, MAI

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