EDITORIAL
Insights on feasibility study methodology, lender review, and CRE capital sources.
Long-form guides for sponsors and lenders working through SBA, USDA, and conventional CRE financing decisions.
Financing Programs
SBA 504 Feasibility Studies: The Consultant's Role
A 504 is two lenders, a debenture fixed for 25 years, and a programme that funds after completion rather than at closing. Each of those changes the analysis. Plus the July 2026 change that finally solves the working capital gap.
Read article →USDA Community Facilities Feasibility Studies: The Consultant's Role
Community Facilities is a lending programme that everyone describes as a grant programme. Direct loans ran $1.08 billion in FY2023 against roughly $4 million in competitive grants. What that means for how a project should actually be structured.
Read article →USDA REAP Feasibility Studies: The Consultant's Role
USDA stopped making REAP grant awards in March 2026 pending a rewrite of the programme regulation. Guaranteed loans are still open. What that means for anyone with a project, and what documentation is actually required.
Read article →Conventional, CMBS and Life Company Feasibility Studies: The Consultant's Role
On a 2026 conduit deal a rating agency valued the collateral 36.7 percent below the appraisals. An appraisal is where underwriting starts, not where it ends. What conventional lenders actually require, and when.
Read article →How much does a feasibility study cost in 2026? A lender-grade guide for SBA, USDA, and conventional CRE borrowers.
2026 cost ranges across SBA 7(a), SBA 504, USDA B&I, Community Facilities, REAP, and conventional bank, CMBS, and life-company financing — plus the variables that move the price.
Read article →What does a feasibility study consultant do? A guide to scope, deliverables, and how to choose one for an SBA, USDA, or bank loan.
The five deliverables a lender expects inside a feasibility study and the eight criteria that separate consultants whose work clears program review from those whose work does not.
Read article →SBA feasibility study requirements in 2026: what SOP 50 10 8 means for 7(a) and 504 borrowers.
When the SBA requires a feasibility study under SOP 50 10 8, what changed in June 2025, which property types trigger the requirement, and what the study must include.
Read article →USDA B&I Feasibility Study: The Consultant's Role
How an independent feasibility study consultant satisfies USDA Rural Development's 7 CFR Part 5001 standard, the five required feasibility dimensions and the rural-impact case, to clear a Business and Industry loan guarantee.
Read article →SBA Special-Purpose Property Feasibility Study: The Consultant's Role
Why SBA 7(a) and 504 special-purpose properties require more equity and an independent feasibility study, and how the consultant proves the going-concern that weak collateral cannot.
Read article →Asset Classes
The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Restaurant Feasibility Studies
Restaurants are the largest category in SBA lending and the highest-defaulting. Why the failure statistic everyone quotes is wrong, why the real risk is real anyway, and what a consultant has to prove after June 2025.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Medical and Dental Practice Feasibility Studies
Healthcare is the safest sector in SBA lending, and that fact is more dangerous than it looks. What actually predicts a practice loan going bad, and why heavy PPO participation costs more than Medicaid does.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Child Care Center Feasibility Studies
Nearly half of young children live in a child care desert, and most centers are underenrolled anyway. When NAEYC asked why, lack of demand was the least cited reason. What a feasibility study has to prove instead.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Fitness Center Feasibility Studies
Record membership, above-average defaults, and brand-level charge-off rates ranging from zero to 56 percent. Why segment tells you nothing and what a fitness feasibility study actually has to establish.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Cold Storage Feasibility Studies
Vacancy at a 20-year high, and modern well-located stock at 2.7 percent. The aggregate hides a flight to quality. What a cold storage feasibility study has to establish in a corrected market.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Meat Processing Feasibility Studies
In 2021 the problem was too little slaughter capacity. In 2026 the Big Four are closing plants because there are not enough cattle. What that inversion does to a meat processing feasibility study.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Funeral Home Feasibility Studies
A funeral home can take more calls and earn less. The cremation crossing, the 150-call viability floor, and why one piece of equipment decides whether the SBA treats the property as special-purpose.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Veterinary Practice Feasibility Studies
Veterinary charges off at a fraction of the SBA average, and visits have declined every year since 2022. Revenue grows on price alone. What that does to a practice projection, and why the shortage figure everyone quotes was commissioned by Mars.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Brewery, Winery and Distillery Feasibility Studies
A taproom pint returns five to eight times the revenue of the same beer sold to a distributor, and the most distribution-dependent segment is failing fastest. Why grow-into-distribution stopped being the answer.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Grain Elevator and Commodity Storage Feasibility Studies
How a consultant separates fee income from merchandising margin, models throughput against a draw area that includes on-farm storage, and builds a lender-grade projection for SBA, USDA, and conventional grain handling financing.
Read article →The role of a feasibility study analyst in gas station feasibility studies.
How a feasibility analyst translates traffic capture, fuel margin, and inside-sales mix into a lender-grade projection for SBA, USDA, and conventional gas station financing.
Read article →The role of a feasibility study consultant in car wash feasibility studies.
How a consultant translates trade-area capture, membership penetration, and retail wash volume into a lender-grade projection for SBA, USDA, and conventional car wash financing.
Read article →The role of a feasibility study consultant in RV park feasibility studies.
How a consultant translates site mix, seasonal occupancy, ADR, and ancillary revenue into a lender-grade projection for SBA, USDA, and conventional RV park financing.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Truck Stop and Travel Center Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant turns corridor truck traffic into bankable fuel volume, inside sales, and a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional travel center loans.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in RV and Boat Storage Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts trade-area ownership and storage scarcity into bankable occupancy and a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional RV and boat storage loans.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Wedding Venue Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts trade-area wedding demand into bookable event-days, contracted revenue, and a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional wedding venue loans.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Hotel Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant turns market lodging demand into a penetrated occupancy and ADR forecast, a multi-year RevPAR ramp, and a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional hotel loans.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Self-Storage Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts trade-area demand and square-feet-per-capita saturation into absorbable square footage, a multi-year lease-up, and a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional self-storage loans.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Multifamily Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts trade-area renter demand into absorbable units, achievable rent net of concessions, and a defensible DSCR for agency, HUD/FHA, conventional, and LIHTC multifamily financing.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Assisted Living Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts age- and income-qualified senior demand into absorbable units, achievable rate, and a defensible DSCR for SBA, HUD 232, agency, and conventional assisted living and memory care financing.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Glamping Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts drive-to leisure demand into seasonally-blended occupancy, achievable nightly rate, and a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional glamping and outdoor hospitality loans.
Read article →The Feasibility Study Consultant's Role in Distillery Feasibility Studies
How a feasibility study consultant converts production capacity into channel-weighted revenue, funds the aging cash-flow gap, and builds a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional craft distillery loans.
Read article →Industrial Feasibility Study: The Consultant's Role
How a feasibility study consultant resolves the owner-occupied versus income-producing question and converts industrial demand, location, and functionality into a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional financing.
Read article →Marina Feasibility Study: The Consultant's Role
How a feasibility study consultant converts boating demand into a layered slip, storage, fuel, and service revenue model, accounts for permitting, infrastructure, and storm risk, and builds a defensible DSCR for SBA, USDA, and conventional marina financing.
Read article →