Prepared for lenders, CDCs, and federal agencies to SBA SOP 50 10 8, USDA 7 CFR Part 5001, and conventional underwriting standards. Fiduciary duty runs to the lender and the agency, never the borrower. 4,000+ engagements since 1998 covering $41.2 billion in evaluated project value. So far in 2026: 41 engagements and $1.54 billion evaluated — 17 SBA, 11 USDA.
Retail feasibility turns on trade-area capture: the gravity of the site against competing nodes, the spending power inside realistic drive-time bands, and the durability of the tenant mix against e-commerce displacement. For anchored and unanchored centers alike, the study quantifies retail leakage and surplus by category, tests proposed rents against the sales volumes tenants can actually achieve at the location, and evaluates co-tenancy and lease-rollover risk. For single-tenant and pad-site development, the analysis focuses on the credit and unit economics of the specific operator the income stream depends on.
The methodology combines Census and ACS demographic bands, ESRI-grade drive-time analysis, state retail sales tax data where published, traffic counts from the state DOT, and a physical competitive census conducted at the category level. Rent conclusions are benchmarked against RMA and IBISWorld operator margins so that the underwritten rent is one the tenant's profit-and-loss statement can sustain — a discipline that separates a defensible study from a broker pro forma.
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. Retail reaches us through every program we serve: SBA 504 for owner-operators acquiring or building their premises, USDA B&I for rural retail anchors, and conventional lending for investor-owned centers, each with its own coverage minimums and collateral logic the study addresses directly.
The firm's retail work includes dual-tenant retail development, franchise QSR co-tenancy, and wine and spirits anchored projects, among them a $3,659,200 SBA 504 dual-tenant building in Grain Valley, Missouri. 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.
A retail feasibility study is not a market overview dressed up with footnotes. For anchored centers, unanchored strip retail, and single-tenant pad sites alike, the report works through a defined sequence: trade-area delineation, demand quantification, competitive supply inventory, revenue projection, expense build-up, debt-service test, and an explicit statement of conditions that tells the reviewer exactly what must remain true for the conclusions to hold. Each section is traceable to a named source, and every dollar in the financial model ties to a line in the narrative.
The bound narrative and the linked Excel model are delivered together so that a credit officer can read the logic and then verify every number without leaving the workbook.
Retail demand analysis begins with geography. Drive-time polygons replace simple radius rings because retail gravity follows road networks, not straight lines, and a five-minute drive in a dense grid covers far less ground than the same drive on an arterial highway. Once the trade area is defined, the analysis layers in population and household data from the Census Bureau and the American Community Survey, then converts household counts into category-level retail spending estimates using published consumer expenditure data.
Supply is measured by field observation, not by database query alone. A physical competitive census visits existing centers and pads within the relevant competitive radius, recording gross leasable area, tenant category, visible occupancy, and any evidence of recent turnover. Pipeline supply is identified through municipal planning and zoning portals, building-permit registries, and state or county commercial-permit databases, which together reveal projects approved but not yet open. State retail sales tax data, where published at the county or municipal level, provides an independent cross-check on whether reported spending in the trade area aligns with the demographic model.
Traffic counts from the state department of transportation anchor the site-specific analysis. Ingress and egress configuration, signal placement, and proximity to traffic generators—grocery anchors, fuel stations, quick-service restaurant clusters—are evaluated against the counts to assess capture probability. Trade association data for specific retail categories supplements the demographic model where category-level spending norms are available and verifiable.
Coverage ratios in retail projects are sensitive to a small number of inputs. Identifying which inputs those are, and then testing each one rigorously, is where an independent study earns its value. A study that presents a single-point projection without disclosing which assumptions drive it gives a lender no basis for judgment under stress.
Each assumption is documented, sourced, and subjected to the standard sensitivity runs so that the lender can see exactly how much deterioration the project can absorb before coverage falls below the applicable minimum.
The underwriting concern that appears most consistently across SBA, USDA, and conventional retail engagements is rent supportability: not whether the landlord can achieve a rent, but whether the tenant can pay it and survive. A center underwritten to rents that exceed what the tenant mix can generate at that location will experience vacancy, and vacancy destroys coverage. An independent feasibility study addresses this directly by working from the tenant’s unit economics backward to the rent the location can support.
For SBA 504 engagements, the study is prepared to SOP 50 10 8, confirming 1.15x operating coverage and 1.00x global coverage, and addressing collateral adequacy and the owner-operator’s business viability as distinct questions. Owner-occupied retail—a franchisee acquiring its own building, for example—requires the business feasibility analysis to stand alongside the real estate analysis, and the study integrates both.
USDA Business & Industry engagements for rural retail anchors add a community-impact dimension: the agency looks for evidence that the project serves a genuine gap in rural retail access, which the leakage analysis directly supports. Conventional lenders underwriting investor-owned centers typically require 1.20x coverage and focus on lease-rollover concentration, anchor credit quality, and the loan-to-value relationship—all of which the study addresses through the lease-rollover schedule and the sensitivity runs. In every program, the study is written so that the credit officer can present it to a loan committee without supplemental explanation.
Every engagement begins with a fixed, quoted fee returned within one business day of inquiry. The fee does not change with the finding, is not contingent on loan approval, and is not adjusted if the conclusion is unfavorable to the sponsor. That structure is the mechanical expression of the firm’s fiduciary duty to the lender and the reviewing agency.
Work begins when a complete data room is assembled. For a retail or shopping center project, the data room typically includes the site address and legal description, current rent roll or proposed lease abstracts, the sponsor’s operating history if the center is existing, construction cost documentation for new development, and the lender’s term sheet. Standard delivery is ten to fifteen business days from a complete data room. Rush delivery is available and is quoted at the time of engagement. Incomplete data rooms are the most common source of delay; the engagement letter specifies exactly what is required so that gap does not surface mid-engagement.
The financial model is published to a secure client portal as a live, fully linked Excel workbook with no hardcoded values. When a lender or agency reviewer changes an input—a rent assumption, a vacancy rate, an interest rate—every downstream calculation updates instantly. That transparency eliminates the back-and-forth that occurs when a reviewer cannot trace a number to its source. The portal remains accessible through the credit decision, and the model can be re-run against revised terms without a new engagement if the project scope has not changed materially.
The fee is fixed and quoted within one business day of inquiry. It does not vary with the finding, is not contingent on loan approval, and is not adjusted if the conclusion is unfavorable. Because scope drives cost, the quote is based on project type, size, and program—SBA, USDA, or conventional—rather than on a published schedule.
Standard delivery is ten to fifteen business days from receipt of a complete data room. Rush delivery is available and is quoted at engagement. The most common source of delay is an incomplete data room; the engagement letter specifies exactly what is required so that gap is identified before work begins rather than during it.
Retail coverage depends on tenant sales productivity, not just occupancy. A center can be fully leased and still fail if rents exceed what the tenant mix can generate at that location. E-commerce displacement differs by merchandise category, anchor credit quality affects co-tenancy rights, and lease-rollover concentration can compress value rapidly—none of which appear in a simple income-and-expense pro forma.
Studies are prepared to SBA SOP 50 10 8, including its 1.15x operating and 1.00x global debt-service-coverage minimums, and are structured to pass lender, agency, and third-party review. No agency has formally endorsed or pre-approved any outside firm, and no study guarantees loan approval; the study provides the independent analysis the program requires.
Yes. SBA 504 owner-occupied retail engagements require both analyses to stand independently. The real estate analysis addresses trade-area demand, competitive supply, and rent supportability. The business feasibility analysis addresses the operator’s unit economics, margin structure, and ability to service debt from the specific location—and the two are integrated into a single coverage conclusion.
The standard data room includes the site address and legal description, current rent roll or proposed lease abstracts, operating history for existing centers, construction cost documentation for new development, and the lender’s term sheet. The engagement letter specifies the complete list. Work begins when the data room is confirmed complete, which is the primary variable controlling delivery time.
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Wert-Berater, Inc. is an independent provider of feasibility studies and other related services. The firm does not provide financing or equity investment advice, and does not arrange, broker, or place debt or equity capital of any kind.
All appraisal assignments are performed by Bruce E. Jones, MAI, ASA-GC, BCA, CMEA, a member of the Appraisal Institute since 2006, a staff member of Wert-Berater, Inc. and owner of Special Purpose Realty Valuation.