Market Performance Overview: Occupancy, ADR, and RevPAR The U.S. hospitality sector enters 2026 in the middle of a quiet but consequential reversal. In 2025 the industry recorded something it had never before posted outside of a recession: a full-year decline in revenue per available room. RevPAR slipped roughly 0.3% as occupancy gave back about 1.2%, and the air went out of a recovery that many operators had assumed would carry through the decade (1)(3). The cause was not a

Assisted living and memory care fail for financial reasons, not demographic ones. This MMCG analysis frames feasibility as a coverage test, showing how durable private-pay revenue, the 18-to-30-month lease-up, and the chosen capital structure, from HUD Section 232 to SBA, USDA, and conventional debt, determine whether a community is bankable.

The dispositive saturation test is never population per rooftop. How the right denominator, vendor universe, and vintage decide whether a feasibility study is bankable.

A newly delivered Class A warehouse. In 2026 industrial sits at or just past peak vacancy near 6.7 to 7.3 percent, with deliveries at their lowest since 2017 and absorption forecast to overtake new supply. For a build like this, the feasibility conclusion turns on the lease-up: how fast comparable space filled, and when the ramp crosses the occupancy that covers debt service. 1. Why the Gap Is the Conclusion A feasibility study does not answer whether there is demand. It answ

1. Why Demographics Decide the Conclusion Demographic analysis is the load-bearing input of a feasibility study. Every figure a lender ultimately underwrites, the demand projection, the capture or penetration rate, the absorption schedule, the stabilized revenue line, the debt service coverage ratio, is derivative of a population picture drawn around the subject. A defensible demographic foundation produces a defensible conclusion. A borrowed or stale one invalidates everythi

In fiscal year 2025, the U.S. Small Business Administration guaranteed roughly 84,400 loans under its two flagship credit programs, the 7(a) and the 504, channeling about $44.8 billion into small business borrowers and the commercial real estate they occupy (1). It was the largest combined volume in the agency's history. Read alone, that figure tells a story of abundance: federally backed capital is flowing, and it is flowing at record scale. That reading is incomplete. The s

Most multifamily borrowers approach feasibility work as a single deliverable. One market study, one rent comp set, one absorption schedule, sized to whichever lender happens to be in front of them at the time. This is the wrong frame, and it produces the wrong file. A feasibility study built for an SBA-financed senior living conversion has almost nothing in common with the deliverable an EB-5 Regional Center needs for a garden apartment build, and neither resembles the apprai

In FY2021 the Agency approved 89 percent of B&I applications. By FY2023 that figure had fallen to 53 percent. The standard has tightened, the regulation has been amended, and the operational rules now sit in Administrator letters as much as in 7 CFR Part 5001 itself. This guide is what we wish existed when we started writing USDA feasibility studies.

1. Why PMA Decides Feasibility The Primary Market Area is the single most consequential analytical decision in any feasibility study. Every other input — demand projection, capture rate, competitive supply, absorption schedule, achievable rents — is derivative of the geographic boundary the analyst draws around the subject. A defensible PMA produces a defensible feasibility conclusion. An indefensible PMA invalidates everything downstream. The PMA carries this much weight bec

The USDA Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program just had its biggest year in history. It also rejected roughly one out of every two applications that crossed its desk. Both things are true at the same time, and the gap between them tells you almost everything you need to know about rural commercial lending in 2026. The U.S. Department of Agriculture obligated $1.8 billion through the USDA Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program in fiscal 2024 — a record utilizati

The Value Added Producer Grant (VAPG) remains one of USDA's most effective rural business development tools, but the program faces declining funding, reduced grant caps, and severe staffing losses heading into FY2026. For feasibility study consultants and agricultural entrepreneurs, understanding the program's mechanics, strategic nuances, and evolving political landscape is essential. With approximately $25 million available in the current cycle (down from $30 million in F

The USDA Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program stands as the federal government's largest rural commercial lending vehicle, offering guarantees on loans up to $25 million (and $40 million in select cases) to an unusually broad universe of borrowers — for-profit businesses, nonprofits, cooperatives, tribes, and public bodies — for projects in communities of 50,000 or fewer. Now governed by the consolidated 7 CFR Part 5001 (the "OneRD" regulation, effective October 1,

Origins and Rise of an American Industrial Icon Caterpillar Inc. traces its roots back to the early 20th century, born from a 1925 merger of two California-based innovators in tractor technology: the Holt Manufacturing Company and C.L. Best Tractor Co.. Holt had developed the “caterpillar” track-type tractor – a name inspired by the machine’s undulating movement – and built a worldwide reputation, while Best brought a broad domestic dealer network and advanced tractor designs

The humble pizza, long a staple of American Friday nights, is losing some of its magic. After decades of dominance in quick-service dining, pizza restaurants are facing a stark reality: their once-dependable popularity is waning, and competitors are eating their lunch (and dinner). Industry data shows that the U.S. pizza restaurants market has been shrinking in recent years, even as other restaurant formats – from fried chicken chains to fast-casual eateries – are flourishing

Introduction President Donald Trump’s recent executive order directing the reclassification of marijuana marks a watershed moment for U.S. drug policy. For the first time since 1970, the federal government is moving to loosen its stance on cannabis, shifting it from the most restrictive category of controlled substances to a less dangerous designation. The administration has framed the move as a bid to lower regulatory barriers and enable medical research on cannabis – a resp

At a sunny assisted living residence outside Phoenix, 89-year-old Marjorie Thompson begins her day with the help of a nursing aide who assists her in getting dressed and managing morning medications. Down the hall, a small group of residents gathers for a chair yoga class. It’s a tranquil scene that belies the dramatic shifts underway in senior care across the country. After three turbulent years of pandemic disruptions, America’s network of nursing homes and assisted living

The U.S. fast-food chicken restaurant industry, part of the limited-service restaurant category (NAICS 722513), has emerged as one of the most dynamic corners of quick service. As of 2025, it generates roughly $63.7 billion in annual revenue and employs about 775,000 people, with more than 150 businesses active nationwide. Growth has been robust in the post-pandemic recovery, with industry revenue expanding at an estimated 5.6% compound annual rate between 2020 and 2025, befo

Introduction: The U.S. bars and nightclubs industry has rebounded from pandemic-era disruptions and is now a $39 billion market, albeit one with thin margins and high volatility. As consumers return to social nightlife and spending out-of-home, investors and developers are reexamining opportunities in this fragmented sector. Private equity interest is on the rise, targeting scalable concepts and roll-up strategies. This briefing provides an analytical overview of industry f

Power Plant Rapid growth in AI computing is driving unprecedented demand for hyperscale data center capacity, but this boom comes with significant strains on infrastructure and logistics. The United States is experiencing a data center construction boom fueled by surging demand for cloud services and artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. Hyperscale data centers – massive server campuses often built for tech giants or colocation providers – are being planned and built at a

Automation and robotics are reshaping U.S. manufacturing, boosting precision and efficiency across electronics, automotive, and food...