Prepared for lenders, CDCs, and federal agencies to SBA SOP 50 10 8, USDA RD Instruction 5001, and conventional underwriting standards. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never the borrower. More than 4,000 studies since 1998 covering $40.2 billion in evaluated project value.
Marina and dry-stack feasibility rests on registered-vessel demand against wet-slip and rack supply within the realistic trailering and cruising radius. The study counts the vessel population by length class from state registration data, censuses every competing slip and rack with current occupancy and rates, and models the proposed facility's capture by class. Hurricane-rated dry-stack construction, fuel and service revenue, and the storage-versus-slip pricing relationship each receive explicit treatment, as does flood-zone and coastal regulatory position.
Methodology uses state vessel registration files, a physical competitive census, FEMA flood-zone documentation, and marine-industry benchmarks, with RSMeans-based budgets for rack systems and pre-engineered buildings. The model carries occupancy ramp by rack class, ancillary revenue, and liquidation analysis with orderly and forced recovery scenarios where the lender requires it.
Every Wert-Berater financial model is fully linked with no hardcoded values, so any reviewer can stress any input. Deliverables comprise a complete narrative report and the linked Excel model, with ten-year pro forma, sensitivity analysis at ±5, 10, and 15 percent, interest-rate stress from +0.5 to +3.0 percent, and ratio analysis benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld data.
SBA engagements are prepared to SOP 50 10 8, including its debt-service-coverage minimums of 1.15x operating and 1.00x global. USDA engagements follow RD Staff Instruction 5001 across the Business & Industry, Community Facilities, REAP, and Value-Added Producer Grant programs. Conventional engagements are built to the lender's stated coverage standard, typically 1.20x. Marina projects are financed under SBA 504 with special-purpose collateral treatment, USDA B&I for qualifying rural coastal communities, and conventional structures; the firm's studies address the program's collateral logic directly.
Current and recent work includes a $23,750,000 SBA 504 dry-stack boathouse and RV storage facility of 437 spaces in Sarasota, Florida and marina engagements including Lake Cumberland at $25,000,000 under USDA B&I. Independence is non-negotiable: determinations follow the evidence and are not revised under pressure, and studies are built to pass lender, agency, and third-party review without exception items.
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