Feasibility Study Company Independent Feasibility Analysis

Georgia · Savannah

Savannah Feasibility Studies

A feasibility study in Savannah, Georgia covers a three-county metro (Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties) that held 438,314 residents on July 1, 2025 2. The port, Gulfstream Aerospace with 13,125 employees 1 and the Hyundai plant in Bryan County carry demand, and 5.1 million square feet of industrial space was under construction in Q3 2026 9. Those engines sit beside impact fees that differ between the City of Savannah, Bryan County and Effingham County 111213.

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438,314
Savannah MSA residents, July 1, 2025 (Census Vintage 2025 as transcribed) 2
13,125
Gulfstream Aerospace employees, the area's largest employer, January 2026 1
5.1Msf
Industrial space under construction, Q3 2026 9
$1,681
Average apartment rent, Q4 2025 1
Growth

Three counties, a 2020 count from HUD and a 2025 total at second hand.

The Savannah metro is Chatham County, which holds the city, the port and the islands, plus Bryan County to the southwest and Effingham County upriver to the northwest. Its population record arrives in two hands. HUD's market analysis, written as of January 1, 2026, is the source of the 2020 Census count of 404,798 residents across the three counties 1. The July 1, 2025 total of 438,314 reached the research through a Wikipedia list that transcribes the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 metro table 2. The more recent number is therefore the less direct one, and this page carries it as a transcription until the Bureau's own rows for Chatham, Bryan and Effingham are read. HUD reports that the area's growth has slowed sharply since 2022 1.

The research did not capture the 2025 Census permit totals and holds HUD's under-construction counts in their place, which put rental units under construction in the area at 2,550 and for-sale homes at 670 on January 1, 2026 1. The places where the record shows new building are suburban: HUD's account of Memorial Health's expansion puts its new emergency facilities in Pooler, west of the city along I-16, and in Richmond Hill, the Bryan County town on US 17 1.

For all three counties together, the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate puts median household income at $77,180 19 and the median owner-occupied home value at $302,000 19. The BEA's per capita personal income for the metro was $61,535 in calendar 2024 20.

MeasureValueDateSource
Savannah MSA population, 2020 Census404,798April 1, 20201
Savannah MSA population, Vintage 2025 (as transcribed)438,314July 1, 20252
For-sale homes under construction (HUD, in place of a 2025 permit count)670January 1, 20261
Rental units under construction (HUD, in place of a 2025 permit count)2,550January 1, 20261
Economic Base

Jets, hospitals, the Army and a new car plant.

Savannah's largest employer builds business jets. Gulfstream Aerospace leads HUD's January 2026 list with 13,125 employees 1. Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield come next with 6,575, a count of civilians only 1. The two hospital systems follow: HUD records 4,975 employees at St. Joseph's/Candler and 4,300 at Memorial Health University Medical Center 1, and the Savannah Area Chamber's employer list, modified in June 2026, gives St. Joseph's/Candler 5,553 4. Walmart is fifth on HUD's list, with more than 3,900 employees 1. The universities appear apart from the employer list: SCAD reported 1,675 direct employees in fiscal 2023, and Georgia Southern's Armstrong Campus enrolled 5,175 students in fall 2025 1.

The newest anchor stands at the I-16 and GA 280 interchange in Bryan County. The Hyundai vehicle plant represents a reported $7.6 billion investment and has operated since October 2024 5; WSAV counted 1,232 employees at its March 2025 grand opening 6, and HUD's January 2026 analysis expects a second phase to be completed in 2028 1. During an immigration enforcement raid at the Hyundai Metaplant site on September 4, 2025, about 450 were detained; Hyundai said none were its employees 15.

The hospital system is building outward. HUD records an announced $265 million Memorial Health expansion that includes the new emergency facilities in Pooler and Richmond Hill 1, the same two suburbs where the growth section finds new building.

Total payroll gives the scale. HUD reports average nonfarm employment of 207.4 thousand for calendar 2025 1, and BLS shows a preliminary 215.9 thousand for April 2026 3: an annual average from one agency and a single preliminary month from another.

Employer or measureFigurePeriodSource
Gulfstream Aerospace (largest employer)13,125 employeesJanuary 20261
Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield6,575 (civilian only)January 20261
St. Joseph's/Candler, HUD count4,975January 20261
St. Joseph's/Candler, Chamber count5,553June 20264
Memorial Health University Medical Center4,300January 20261
WalmartMore than 3,900 employeesJanuary 20261
SCAD (university anchor)1,675 direct employeesFY20231
Georgia Southern Armstrong Campus (university anchor)5,175 studentsFall 20251
Hyundai plant, Bryan County: investment$7.6 billionReported March 20255
Hyundai plant: employees at opening1,232 employeesMarch 24, 20256
Memorial Health expansion (announced)$265 millionAs of January 20261
Nonfarm employment, annual average207.4 thousandCalendar 20251
Nonfarm employment, monthly level215.9 thousand (preliminary)April 20263
Corridors and Access

A port, an air cargo complex and a car plant on I-16.

The port's reach is measured with a 2021 number. HUD's January 2026 analysis carries the Port of Savannah as supporting 59,050 jobs in 2021 1, a count of jobs the port supports across the economy rather than its own payroll.

The record names its growth points by road. I-16 meets GA 280 at the Hyundai plant in Bryan County 5; Pooler and Richmond Hill carry Memorial's new emergency facilities 1; and US 17 is where HUD records a direct truck route for port access 1. At the airport, an $80 million air cargo complex at Savannah/Hilton Head International began construction in 2024 1. None of these stretches has a Georgia DOT count on this page.

Our pages on Jacksonville and Charleston cover the neighbouring port markets.

Supply by Asset Class

Industrial space under way, a rental forecast with no gap, and visitors measured in taxes.

Industrial: the newest figures on the page

CBRE counted 5.1 million square feet of industrial space under construction in Q3 2026, with an average asking rent of $7.32 per square foot 9, and Colliers put industrial vacancy at 10.01% in Q2 2026 10.

Multifamily: a federal forecast with no room in it

HUD put the average apartment rent at $1,681 in Q4 2025 and rates the rental market very soft 1. The metro has 61,020 renter households in the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate 19. HUD's January 2026 analysis expects the apartments already vacant, together with those under construction, to meet the rental demand it forecasts through 2029 1. A multifamily study in Savannah therefore opens against a federal finding that the forecast period needs no new building, and has to show which renters the subject draws despite it.

Hotels: a visitor trade read through its taxes

JLL, as reported by Hotel Dive, measured Savannah RevPAR at $106.29 in the first half of 2025 7, and CBRE's Q2 2026 U.S. hotel figures show Savannah RevPAR down 2% from a year earlier, the largest decline among the four U.S. markets where it fell 16. The latest occupancy reading the research found was 69.2% for Q4 2024, from Colliers 8; no average daily rate was found, and no list of named 2025 to 2026 openings. County Business Patterns counts 4,112 employees in hotels in 2023 (County Business Patterns) 18. The firmest measure of the visitor economy is fiscal: lodging taxes contributed $56.2 million to Chatham County, Savannah and Tybee in 2024 1, a sum shared by three governments, one of which, Tybee, amended its rental rules in 2026 14.

Fuel stations and older residents

The Census register counts 272 establishments in gas stations and convenience stores across the three counties in 2023 (County Business Patterns) 18, a count for the whole metro rather than for a trade area. For an assisted living or memory care project, the same Census program's survey counts 64,279 residents aged 65 and over in the 2020 to 2024 five-year American Community Survey estimate 19.

Savannah's record stops short of self-storage, retail, office, senior housing occupancy and RV parks.

Class and measureFigurePeriodSource
Industrial under construction (CBRE)5.1 million square feetQ3 20269
Industrial asking rent (CBRE)$7.32 per square footQ3 20269
Industrial vacancy (Colliers)10.01%Q2 202610
Average apartment rent$1,681Q4 20251
Hotel RevPAR (JLL via Hotel Dive)$106.29First half 20257
Hotel RevPAR change (CBRE)Down 2% year over yearQ2 202616
Hotel occupancy (Colliers)69.2%Q4 20248
Lodging taxes to Chatham County, Savannah and Tybee$56.2 million20241
Local Rules

A city and two counties at three different points on impact fees, and Tybee's new rental rule.

Each part of the metro stands somewhere different on impact fees. The City of Savannah charges one: local reporting put its single-family fee at $3,930.85 per house in August 2025, in a story about Liberty County's own fee hearings, outside the metro 11. Bryan County, home of the Hyundai plant, has charged South Bryan a transportation fee of $3,241 per single-family home since April 1, 2019, and extended a transportation fee to North Bryan from January 1, 2026, after ordinance amendments in 2025 12. Effingham County has a $4,600 fee on its books that it has not collected for about a decade, according to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation 13. A budget in the city carries a fee in force, one in North Bryan a fee in its first year, and one in Effingham a fee that exists on paper but has not been charged.

Tybee Island amended its short-term rental rules on August 28, 2026, after a suit filed in January 2026 14, so a rental home or small lodging project on the island is read against a rule with little operating history behind it.

The statewide checks that sit beside these local rules, from electric service to program status, are on our Georgia page.

RuleLevel or statusDateSource
City of Savannah single-family impact fee$3,930.85 per houseAugust 202511
South Bryan County transportation impact fee$3,241 single-familyEffective April 1, 201912
North Bryan County transportation impact feeIn effectJanuary 1, 202612
Effingham County impact fee$4,600 on the books, not collected for about a decadeCurrent13
Tybee Island short-term rental rulesAmended after January 2026 suitAugust 28, 202614
Lenders and Capital

SBA lending in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham, fiscal 2016 to 2025.

SBA's loan-level files put 7(a) lending in Chatham, Bryan and Effingham at $449.2 million approved in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, net of cancellations 17. On the 504 side the same files hold 104 loans and $147.5 million of debentures, both approved in fiscal years 2016 to 2025, net of cancellations 17.

All three counties are served by SBA's Georgia District Office, which covers the state's 159 counties 23.

Whether a Savannah loan needs a study at all rests on 13 CFR 120.160(b): SBA may require professional appraisals, a survey, or a feasibility study, under SBA's current SOP 50 10 8.1 with Technical Policy Updates 2122; the SBA section of our Georgia page links the program tests.

Even the Hyundai plant's Bryan County site has no USDA, Opportunity Zone or HUBZone reading in this page's record, and neither has any other part of the three counties; the Georgia site tests send each question to the agency's own tool.

Worked Cases

The Georgia cases nearest a Savannah file.

No published case names a site in Chatham, Bryan or Effingham. The truck stop and travel center case puts its interchange on the I-16 freight corridor between Macon and the Port of Savannah, which its page places in the Savannah port-and-Hyundai coast economy, and it names no county or town along that road, so this page places it on the corridor. The Georgia agency multifamily case is set in a fast-growing suburb of metro Atlanta; it runs a new garden and low mid-rise community through a bank construction loan and a Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac permanent takeout, building demand from qualified renter households and testing capture against competing lease-ups, which is the question HUD's 2029 forecast puts to any new Savannah apartment project. The Georgia page lists the rest.

Before Closing

Eight items to confirm before a Savannah loan closes.

  1. The Bureau's own 2025 rows

    The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 figures for Chatham, Bryan and Effingham, read directly, in place of the 438,314 total that reached the research through Wikipedia 2.

  2. Hyundai's headcount now

    The plant's current direct employment, in place of the 1,232 counted at the March 2025 grand opening 6.

  3. A city fee taken from a Liberty County story

    The City of Savannah's own schedule, confirming the $3,930.85 that local reporting quoted while covering a neighbouring county's hearings 11.

  4. North Bryan in its first fee year

    For a North Bryan parcel, the transportation fee in force since January 1, 2026, priced at the rate the county charges on the permit date 12.

  5. Effingham's uncollected $4,600

    The county's written position on whether its dormant fee will be charged when the subject's permit issues 13.

  6. Tybee after August 28, 2026

    For an island rental or lodging project, the rule as amended after the January 2026 suit 14.

  7. Units against HUD's 2029 forecast

    For an apartment project, how the subject's units are absorbed when HUD expects vacant and under-construction units to meet forecast demand through 2029 1.

  8. Warehouse rent beside $7.32

    The subject's rent set against CBRE's Q3 2026 asking figure while 5.1 million square feet is still under construction 9.

Savannah Questions

What a credit committee asks about a Savannah project.

Which dates matter in a feasibility study in Savannah, Georgia?

The dates of its demand figures, which run from 2021 to 2026. The Port of Savannah's 59,050 supported jobs are a 2021 count carried in HUD's January 2026 analysis 1; the 6,575 at Fort Stewart and Hunter Army Airfield are civilians only 1; nonfarm employment averaged 207.4 thousand in calendar 2025 1 and stood at a preliminary 215.9 thousand in April 2026 3. Local cost carries dates as well, because the City of Savannah, South Bryan, North Bryan and Effingham each sit at a different point on impact fees, as the rules section below shows.

Which counties does a Savannah, Georgia market study cover?

Chatham, Bryan and Effingham counties in Georgia, the three counties of HUD's January 2026 housing market analysis, which counted 404,798 residents there at the 2020 Census 1. Liberty County, next to the metro, falls outside that area, yet the City of Savannah's impact fee reached the research through a news story about Liberty County's own fee hearings 11.

What does the record say about the Hyundai plant's workforce?

The plant represents a reported $7.6 billion investment and has operated since October 2024 5; WSAV counted 1,232 employees at its March 2025 grand opening and reported that a raised target of 500,000 vehicles a year would need closer to 14,000 workers instead of 8,500 6, and HUD's January 2026 analysis expects a second phase, with up to 3,000 manufacturing jobs, to be completed in 2028 1. This page holds no later headcount.

Is Savannah's apartment market oversupplied?

HUD's January 2026 analysis says so in substance: it expects the apartments already vacant, together with those under construction, to meet the rental demand it forecasts through 2029 1. The same analysis put the average apartment rent at $1,681 in Q4 2025 1. A new project here is answering a federal forecast that leaves no gap for it, and its study has to show where its renters come from despite that finding.

What hotel evidence does a Savannah feasibility study start from?

Four readings, the newest from Q2 2026. CBRE's Q2 2026 U.S. hotel figures show Savannah RevPAR down 2% from a year earlier, the largest decline among the four U.S. markets where it fell 16; JLL, via Hotel Dive, reported RevPAR of $106.29 for the first half of 2025 7; the latest occupancy reading found was 69.2% for Q4 2024, from Colliers 8; and no average daily rate or list of named 2025 to 2026 openings turned up. The visitor trade is measured more firmly through government receipts: lodging taxes paid $56.2 million to Chatham County, Savannah and Tybee in 2024 1.

Which impact fees apply to a Savannah area project?

It depends on the jurisdiction. Local reporting put the City of Savannah's single-family impact fee at $3,930.85 per house in August 2025 11; South Bryan County has charged a transportation impact fee of $3,241 per single-family home since April 2019, and North Bryan County's fee took effect on January 1, 2026 12. Effingham County carries a $4,600 fee on its books that it has not collected for about a decade 13. A fee in force, a fee in its first year and a fee left uncollected: which one a budget carries depends on the county and city that issue the permit.

How much industrial space is being built around Savannah?

CBRE counted 5.1 million square feet of industrial space under construction in Q3 2026, at an average asking rent of $7.32 per square foot 9, and Colliers put industrial vacancy at 10.01% in Q2 2026 10. The supply section sets both readings beside the apartment and hotel figures.

Financing a Savannah project? Start with the market read.

Send the address, the program and the lender. We will tell you which Savannah evidence the file already has, what the study has to gather, and how long it will take.

Request a methodology briefing
Sources

Data sources and dates.

Every figure on this page traces to a named, dated source. Register figures (SBA, Census and BEA) are refreshed from the publisher's own data.

Market data reviewed by Mark Otava · Updated

  1. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research, Comprehensive Housing Market Analysis: Savannah, Georgia (as of January 1, 2026), 2026 (market conditions as of January 1, 2026).
  2. Wikipedia, transcribing U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 metro totals (released March 26, 2026), List of metropolitan areas in Georgia (U.S. state), March 26, 2026 (population as of July 1, 2025).
  3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Savannah, GA Economy at a Glance, 2026 (April 2026 data, preliminary).
  4. Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce, Major Employers, Modified June 2, 2026.
  5. CoStar, Hyundai's 'metaplant' near Savannah, March 26, 2025.
  6. WSAV (via Yahoo News), Hyundai Metaplant holds grand opening, March 2025 (employment as of March 24, 2025).
  7. Hotel Dive (citing JLL), Hospitality Market Spotlight: Savannah, 2025 (first half 2025 data).
  8. Colliers, Hospitality 24Q4 Georgia, 2025 (Q4 2024 data).
  9. CBRE, Savannah Industrial Figures Q3 2026, 2026 (Q3 2026 data).
  10. Colliers, Savannah Industrial Market Report 2026 Q2, 2026 (Q2 2026 data).
  11. The Current, Liberty County commission to hold impact fee hearings, August 5, 2025.
  12. Bryan County, Transportation Impact Fee, Undated county page, retrieved 2026 (South Bryan fee effective April 1, 2019; North Bryan fee effective January 1, 2026).
  13. Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Assessment of Georgia Development Impact Fees, Undated study, retrieved 2026 (current fee levels).
  14. HOA Weekly, Georgia: Tybee Island caps rentals by sector... (title as truncated in the research), Undated article, retrieved 2026 (events January to August 2026).
  15. Wikipedia (secondary), Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, Retrieved 2026 (event of September 4, 2025).
  16. CBRE (secondary), Hotel ADR & RevPAR Continue to Rise (Q2 2026 U.S. Hotel Figures), 2026 (Q2 2026 data).
  17. U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Capital Access, 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level data, loan status as of June 30, 2026 (approval fiscal years 2016 to 2025); retrieved October 16, 2026.
  18. U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 County Business Patterns (Census Data API), 2023 (employment for the pay period including March 12, 2023); retrieved October 16, 2026.
  19. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Detailed Tables (Census Data API), 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates; retrieved October 16, 2026.
  20. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Personal Income by County, Metro, and Other Areas (Regional table CAINC1), calendar year 2024; retrieved October 16, 2026.
  21. U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10 8.1, Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, with Technical Policy Updates, effective October 1, 2026.
  22. eCFR, 13 CFR 120.160, Loan conditions, current to October 7, 2026.
  23. U.S. Small Business Administration, Georgia District, page current late 2025; retrieved October 2026.