Feasibility Study Company Independent Feasibility Analysis

Ohio · Market Intelligence

Ohio Feasibility Studies

Ohio's rules write the budget before the market does: a liquor permit bought from a holder where the quota is full, a per-tank fee to the state underground storage tank fund and, for new data centers in AEP Ohio's territory, a tariff under which 5,642 MW had been signed by February 2026 43. Demand is the steadier side of the file, with 11,900,510 residents on July 1, 2025 1 and a jobless rate of 3.3% in August 2026 8, but the eight metros pull apart, from stalled Columbus payrolls to a Youngstown metro that lost residents over the latest year. The sections below name the evidence a lender in each market will ask for, and the dates it must carry.

Request a methodology briefing Jump to the eight Ohio markets
11,900,510
Ohioans on July 1, 2025 1
3.3%
Unemployment rate, August 2026 8
5,642 MW
Data center load signed under AEP Ohio's tariff, by February 2026 43
17
Confirmed tornadoes behind disaster declaration DR-4945, August 2026 44
The Ohio Read

Ohio is a slow-growth state with fast-moving gates.

Wages deserve the first look in an Ohio pro forma for 2026. The jobless rate stood at 3.3% in August 2026, down from 4.4% a year earlier 8, so a hotel, a care home or a restaurant hires in a tight market. That is a cost question, and most of what now decides an Ohio loan sits in cost and permission rather than in the size of the customer base.

Three state rules carry that weight. A liquor permit for a tavern or a full-service dining room is capped by population and changes hands privately, so where the quota is full the operator buys one from a holder 2829. Petroleum underground storage tanks are covered by a state compensation fund, for a per-tank fee and a deductible 31. New data centers drawing at least 25 MW in AEP Ohio's territory now sign under a tariff written for them 41. Each becomes a budget line or a condition of opening, and none shows up on a national demographic screen.

The population is large and settled. Local codes can still outrank the market: in the Versailles worked case, the village's approvals for fuel tanks weigh on the loan more than demand does.

Statewide Economy

People, jobs and incomes behind an Ohio demand model.

The useful signal is in the direction of migration and in which sectors are hiring.

The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 series estimates 11,900,510 Ohioans as of July 1, 2025, up from 11,860,621 the year before 1. QuickFacts gives an estimates base of 11,799,445 for April 2020 and growth of +0.9% since then 2; JobsOhio, the state-affiliated development group, restates that as +101,065 residents 3. For a lender this is a quiet tailwind, but the metros diverge sharply, so the study still has to show whether its own county is gaining or losing.

Migration is the line that turned. Ohio gained +11,926 people from other states in the year to June 2025, having lost 32,482 that way in 2021 1. JobsOhio reports combined domestic and international migration of +40,431 for the year to July 2025 3; the research found no stand-alone Census figure for international arrivals into Ohio, so a study should not split that total itself. A demand model for apartments, childcare or storage can reasonably include in-movers, but it should state which vintage it used and run a case without them.

The register carries the base most consumer-facing models start from: 3,267,904 owner-occupied homes, 1,595,287 renter-occupied homes, 2,155,577 residents aged 65 and over, and medians of $71,389 for household income and $1,034 for gross rent, all from the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey 9. Ohio's 2024 per capita personal income came to $64,464, by the Bureau of Economic Analysis count 10. The senior count matters for assisted living, skilled nursing and medical office studies; the renter count sizes the pool an apartment or storage study draws from; the rent figure is the ceiling against which a new apartment or a short-term rental must justify a premium.

Jobs: goods up, services down

Total nonfarm employment stood at 5,688,700 in August 2026, preliminary and seasonally adjusted 4, up +9,900 over twelve months by the state's count 5. The composition is the story. Goods-producing employment rose +30,500 over the year, with construction up +17,800 6, manufacturing up +12,500 and mining and logging up +200 5. Private service-providing employment fell -10,700 and government fell -9,900 5. The Joint Economic Committee's reading of the same month counts private payroll growth of +19,800 over twelve months 7.

That split cuts two ways. Construction and factory hiring support industrial, workforce housing, fuel and quick-service demand near plants and job sites. Service job losses fall on the sectors that fill hotel rooms, restaurant seats and retail space, so a hospitality or retail study should show its own trade area's employment.

Capital Access

Who lends in Ohio, and how concentrated it is.

Ohio's SBA lending runs through one bank first, and the published single-year totals disagree, so a study should name the basis of any volume it quotes.

The official record first. SBA's loan-level FOIA data count 29,498 7(a) approvals in Ohio from FY2016 to FY2025, net of cancellations, for $8,843.9 million, and $1,027.4 million of 504 approvals over the same ten fiscal years 11.

Single-year totals are another matter. The research could not retrieve an official SBA count for Ohio in FY2025, and the secondary tallies disagree. SBALoanIndex, an aggregator, shows 3,465 7(a) and 504 loans for $1.4 billion in FY2025, on data to March 31, 2026 13. GoSBA Loans counts 2,909 7(a) loans for $1.12 billion in 2025 and 135 active SBA lenders, without stating its basis 14. A local newspaper, citing SBA, reported "nearly 4,000" 7(a) loans and about $1.2 billion of total SBA lending for FY2024 15. A study that quotes Ohio SBA volume should name which of these it uses, or better, use the register's FOIA counts above.

One bank, then everyone else

Huntington National Bank booked 2,283 Ohio 7(a) loans for $337,296,500 in FY2024, by its own release, while the next-largest competitor made 153 loans for $59,989,500 16. The aggregator view for 2025 shows the same shape: Huntington with 1,453 loans, then U.S. Bank with 170, KeyBank 99, Newtek 84 and First Commonwealth 61 14. Behind Huntington the counts fall off quickly, and a smaller bank's credit committee may hold few comparable Ohio files, so comparable deal evidence should come from the study itself.

On the 504 side, Ohio Statewide Development Corp. reports 472 loans for $255.4 million from FY2010 to March 31, 2026, as tabulated by the aggregator 13. Hamilton County Development Company, Ohio Statewide and Growth Capital Corp. are named as the three most active CDCs, though that ranking comes from one of them and carries no counts 72. The August 2026 debenture rate was 6.27% for both 25-year and 20-year terms, and 6.19% for 10-year terms 17. A 504 study should price the debenture at the rate in force when it is written and show coverage on combined debt service at that rate.

State and USDA money

Ohio's federal credit initiative allocation is up to $182 million, with an initial tranche of $52.4 million and more than $5.2 million for technical assistance 21. Much of it went to equity: venture programs of about $111 million, made up of the $75 million Ohio Venture Fund and the more than $36 million Ohio Early Stage Focus Fund 22. The lender-facing piece is the Ohio Capital Access Program, a loan-loss reserve held by the lender 23. It cushions the bank's loss if a loan fails; it does nothing for the cash flow a project must show to repay.

USDA Rural Development runs Ohio from a Columbus state office, with area offices in Findlay, Hillsboro, Marietta and Massillon 20. Its renewable energy program put more than $34 million into Ohio in FY2024 across 199 small businesses and producers, and a January 2025 round added about $1 million in 3 grants 19. No FY2025 Ohio total for Business and Industry or Community Facilities lending was found, so a USDA study cannot benchmark against state volume.

ChannelWho handles it in OhioWhat the Ohio record gives a studyPractice area
SBA 7(a)Huntington first; U.S. Bank, KeyBank, Newtek and First Commonwealth trail it in the aggregator tally 14A ten-year FOIA count in the register; single-year totals only from aggregators that disagree with each otherSBA 7(a) and 504
SBA 504Hamilton County Development Company, Ohio Statewide Development Corp. and Growth Capital Corp. 72Monthly debenture rates posted by Ohio Statewide, so the study can price the second lien on its own date 17SBA 7(a) and 504
USDA Rural DevelopmentThe Columbus state office and the Findlay, Hillsboro, Marietta and Massillon area offices 20Renewable energy totals, but no recent Ohio Business and Industry or Community Facilities volumeUSDA Rural Development
State programsOhio Department of Development, through OCAP and the federal credit initiative 2123A lender-held loan-loss reserve; the venture funds sit outside real estate lendingConventional and institutional
HUD, agency and EB-5No Ohio HUD multifamily office or EB-5 record surfaced in the researchProgram evidence the study brings itself; a skilled nursing file clears the state's bed review first 26Conventional and institutional; EB-5
SBA in Ohio

How an Ohio SBA file is read, and by whom.

One district office, one dominant bank and three busy development companies. Who reads the study, and which equity tier the project falls in, shape an Ohio file more than any rule list.

Today one SBA office, the Ohio District, serves all 88 counties from Columbus, with a branch in Cleveland 18, so a convenience store in Mercer County and a warehouse in Lorain County deal with the same district staff. For FY2023, Crain's Cleveland Business credited Huntington with 1,320 of the 1,850 7(a) loans in what it called the Northern Ohio District, about $173.8 million 101. By its own account Huntington led the country in 7(a) volume for seven consecutive fiscal years through FY2024 16; below it sit smaller lenders such as the Columbus credit union named in the Columbus section 94.

Special purpose buildings for new businesses, such as fuel stations sitting on the petroleum fund, limited-service hotels at interstate exits, car washes and care facilities, meet the strictest equity rule. Financed through 504, a new business in such a building contributes 20% of project cost 25, and its debenture comes from a certified development company.

Whether a study is asked for at all is left to the lender and the agency, since the regulation makes it discretionary 24; a research note on the SBA feasibility study question walks through the text. Coverage tests, loan sizes, fees and the remaining equity tiers under the current SOP sit on the SBA 7(a) and 504 practice area, and the October 2026 SOP note covers what changed.

Rules by Asset Class

The Ohio rules that decide whether a concept can open.

Ohio regulates a handful of asset classes tightly at the state level: nursing homes, liquor, fuel and, since 2025, new data centers on AEP Ohio's system. Elsewhere the research leaves gaps a study must fill locally.

Nursing homes: a certificate of need, recently loosened

Ohio reviews long-term-care beds through a certificate of need. A new facility, a replacement, a bed increase or a relocation triggers review, and so does a renovation costing $4 million or more, excluding equipment 26. A 2024 act, implemented in 2025, let counties that sit below their bed need by at least 60 beds add beds without meeting the usual occupancy test, and dropped a rule that cut beds by 10% on relocation 27. A one-time acceptance period opened on April 24, 2025 27. For a senior care study, the distinction matters: certificate of need covers long-term care beds only 26, so skilled nursing supply is rationed while assisted living sits outside that review, under licensing rules the research did not find. The study should say which regime the project sits in and, for skilled nursing, cite the county's bed need calculation.

Liquor: a quota that turns permits into assets

Under Ohio Rev. Code 4303.29 the D-3, D-4 and D-5 classes are capped at one permit for every 2,000 residents, and D-3 at one per 1,500 in cities of 55,000 or more 28. A law firm's overview puts the C-1, C-2, D-1 and D-2 classes at one per 1,000 29. Because the cap binds, permits trade. The same overview, dated late 2023, put typical full-service transfers at $15,000 to $20,000, and more than $40,000 in certain college towns 29. A secondary source puts the D-5 annual fee at $2,344 for 2026 30. A restaurant study should carry the permit purchase in project cost from a dated quote, and check whether a permit is available in the precinct at all; a concept that assumes a new license may not open.

Fuel: the tank fund under the collateral

The Petroleum UST Release Compensation Board runs the state fund for petroleum tank releases; its program year 2026 terms pay up to $1 million for each release 3132. The standard option costs $350 per tank a year with a $55,000 deductible; the reduced-deductible option costs $550 per tank with an $11,000 deductible, and a facility transfer carries a $500 fee 3132. The board may levy a supplemental fee when the unobligated balance falls below $15 million 31. Testimony in February 2025 put that balance near $20.5 million at January 31, 2025, set against an estimated $39 million liability at June 30, 2024 33; the primary audit figure was not retrieved. A gas station study should show the fee option in operating costs, treat the deductible as a contingent cost, and note that a supplemental fee is possible.

Lodging and short-term rentals

Ohio's state sales tax on transient lodging is 5.75%, by a secondary source the research says to confirm with the Department of Taxation 34. A municipality or township may levy a lodging excise of up to 3% plus an additional 3%, and a county up to 3%, with a combined maximum of 6.00% in most places, by the Department's own table, which dates from calendar 2018 35. No current typical combined rate turned up in the research; a hotel study should therefore quote the rate the local treasurer actually collects at the site. Short-term-rental preemption bills were introduced in February 2025 50; a policy tracker shows them still pending in committee as of mid-2026, after third hearings on March 17 and 18, 2026 105, so they are not law and local registration rules still govern.

Data centers and wages

Qualifying data center equipment is fully exempt from sales and use tax, an exemption of 100% under Ohio Rev. Code 122.175, for projects investing at least $100 million, by a secondary summary 36. On January 1, 2026 the non-tipped minimum went to $11.00 an hour and the tipped minimum to $5.50 for employers with gross receipts of $405,000 or more, up from $10.70 and $5.35 in 2025, an increase of +2.8% 37. Smaller employers and workers aged 14 and 15 stay at $7.25 37. A staffing model should price local wages, not these floors.

No published state rules were found for childcare ratios, assisted living licensing thresholds, campground licensing or car wash water recycling; a study in those classes should cite the licensing agency directly.

Costs, Power and Insurance

Three Ohio cost lines a template misses.

Insurance capacity, public-funding wage rules and power availability each move a budget. Property tax and construction cost indices were not found in published form.

Insurance

The Ohio FAIR Plan, the residual market every property insurer must join, writes commercial as well as residential risks. Under its plan of operation effective April 1, 2025, the maximum combined real and personal property limit is $2 million per location 38. A project valued above that cannot rely on the FAIR Plan as a fallback, so a study for a larger hotel, care facility or mixed-use building should confirm that standard-market cover is available. Rate pressure is visible on the residential side: a June 2024 Farmers homeowners filing sought +22.4% for about 115,700 policyholders 39. No approved commercial rate changes or carrier withdrawals for 2025 to 2026 were found, which is a gap, not evidence that premiums are flat.

Prevailing wage on public money

Ohio's prevailing wage law applies only to public improvements financed in whole or in part with public funds. From January 1, 2026 the thresholds are above $250,000 for new building construction and above $75,000 for reconstruction or renovation, and above $101,201 and $30,320 for new and rebuilt roads and sewers 40. A project that layers a city grant, a port authority deal or tax-increment money over an SBA loan may cross those lines, and the construction budget should be priced accordingly. The research found no published Ohio construction cost index, impact fee range or effective commercial property tax rate, so hard costs, local fees and the tax line are priced from contractor bids, the municipality's fee schedule and the county auditor's figure for the parcel.

Power: the data center tariff

AEP Ohio stopped accepting new data center load in March 2023, and the Public Utilities Commission ended that moratorium by approving a data center tariff on July 9, 2025, effective July 23 4142. The tariff reaches only new data centers drawing 25 MW or more: they sign contracts of up to 12 years and pay for at least 85% of the capacity they contract, used or not 41. AEP Ohio's February 2026 letter to the commission shows what followed. Formal load-study requests had stood at 13,022.7 MW across 36 sites when the tariff began, 9,807.7 MW of them in Central Ohio, while agreements signed on the new terms came to 5,642 MW 43. The same letter puts all data center load under agreement at 17,861 MW, so the tariff's terms govern only part of the capacity AEP Ohio has already promised 43.

For loads outside the data center class the tariff sets no terms at all, and the research found no published Ohio figure for the generation queue, water allocation limits or sewer moratoria.

Hazards

Storms are Ohio's recurring disaster, and 2026 brought one.

Severe storms dominate Ohio's federal declarations. The August 2026 tornadoes produced a declaration after a year with none, and it touches two of the eight metros.

As of September 3, 2026, Ohio had had 43 federal disaster declarations since 1980, 24 of them for severe storms, a share of 55.8%, and 0 in calendar 2025 45. The State Hazard Mitigation Plan lists riverine flooding, tornadoes, winter storms, landslides and dam or levee failure first among its priority hazards, followed by a longer list that includes coastal flooding on Lake Erie, extreme heat and land subsidence 48. For a lender, the record describes storms that can strike any county rather than a coastal risk, so flood mapping and the past wind and hail record belong in every Ohio site review, whether or not a river or the lake is near.

The August 2026 storms changed the file for seven counties. Disaster declaration DR-4945, approved October 2, 2026, names Franklin, Licking, Perry, Muskingum and Morgan in the center and southeast, and Hamilton and Clermont in the southwest 46. The Governor's office reported 17 confirmed tornadoes between August 10 and 23, at least 50 homes and businesses destroyed, major damage at 806 properties and minor damage at 475, all preliminary 44. The Governor had requested 23 counties, and 16 were still under review 44. SBA's disaster loan notice adds sixteen contiguous counties, including Brown, Butler, Delaware, Fairfield, Hocking, Madison, Pickaway, Union and Warren 47. The research gives the storm window as ending August 22 in one place and August 23 in another.

A study in a declared or contiguous county needs a competitive survey dated after August 2026, because damaged competitors may be closed or reopening with new rooms or bays; note disaster-loan or insurance money that can bring rebuilt supply online quickly; and state the subject site's own damage history and current insurance terms.

Statewide Supply

What the statewide supply record holds, and what it does not.

Almost every statewide supply series is unpublished or was not found. The few that exist are proxies, and a study should treat them that way.

The industrial evidence is a tracker of big-box buildings rather than a vacancy survey. NAI Ohio Equities' July 2026 tracker counts 510 Ohio properties of 100,000 square feet or more, 106M square feet in all, with 11.7M square feet available, an availability of about 11% 49. The tracker's own figures do not reconcile: the research also credits Columbus alone with more tracked big-box space than that statewide total. It covers only buildings of that size, so a study of a smaller industrial or flex building has nothing to compare against in it.

Fuel retail is the one consumer class with a state count. The petroleum fund registered 21,171 tanks belonging to 3,420 owners at December 27, 2025 32, against about 20,700 tanks and about 3,100 owners cited in February 2025 testimony 33. Those are tanks, not stations, and the two counts come from different sources, so a study should not divide one by the other. Read together, they describe a large existing network, so a new station's study should show where its share comes from; the site's per capita fuel demand note discusses the method.

Lodging has an establishment count but no performance data. The 2023 County Business Patterns count 1,442 hotel and motel establishments in Ohio 12, which says nothing about rooms, occupancy or rates. For those, and for multifamily, self-storage, senior housing, RV parks, childcare and medical buildings, the research found no statewide supply series: no units under construction, no occupancy, no pipeline and no per capita storage figure. The local competitive census is the evidence.

2025 to 2026

Dated Ohio changes a study's as-of date has to clear.

Wage floors, the FAIR Plan cap and the AEP tariff move cost lines; the nursing-bed changes move senior supply; the August storms move the competitive set in seven counties.

  • January 16, 2025: Anduril announced its Arsenal-1 plant in Pickaway County; February 28, 2025: Intel moved Ohio One completion in Licking County to 2030 and later 7477. Both sit in the Columbus metro, and their figures are in the Columbus section.
  • April 1, 2025: the FAIR Plan's amended plan of operation took effect, capping property limits at $2 million per location 38.
  • April 24, 2025: the one-time nursing-home bed acceptance period opened under the 2024 certificate of need changes 27.
  • July 9, 2025: AEP Ohio's data center tariff won approval, in force from July 23, closing out the 2023 moratorium 4142.
  • September 22, 2025: an amended certificate of need rule, Ohio Admin. Code 3701-12-09, took effect 104.
  • January 1, 2026: the minimum wage rose and the prevailing wage thresholds reset 3740.
  • January 27, 2026: the Census Bureau released the Vintage 2025 estimates showing net domestic in-migration 1.
  • February 12, 2026: AEP Ohio reported its signed data center agreements to the commission 43.
  • August 10 to 23, 2026: tornadoes and severe storms in central and southwest Ohio; October 2, 2026: DR-4945 declared for seven counties 4446.

The research found no documented insurer withdrawals, lender exits or statewide sewer moratoria in Ohio during 2025 to 2026.

Metro Markets

Eight Ohio markets, eight different files.

The metro is the unit an Ohio study works in. Each of the eight is covered in its own section below.

Capital and megaprojects

Columbus

The state capital carries Ohio's largest manufacturing and defense announcements, which makes timing the first question in a Columbus file.

Health care and the lakefront

Cleveland

A Lake Erie market built on health care, where thin apartment permitting shapes residential studies.

Three-state metro

Cincinnati

The Ohio side of a market that spans three states, with Hamilton and Clermont counties inside the 2026 disaster declaration.

Air Force anchor

Dayton

A metro whose single largest employer is an Air Force base, so federal workforce decisions move demand as much as any private plant.

Big-box supply

Toledo

A market on the Michigan line with the highest big-box availability of the three metros the industrial tracker reports.

Public capital

Akron

A two-county market where documented investment is mostly public roads and sewers, and where the research has no industrial figure for a stated Akron geography.

Stable and small

Canton

A market that holds its size, nearly all of it in Stark County with Carroll as a small rural neighbor, while the 2026 job estimate points slightly down.

Rebuilding manufacturing

Youngstown

The Mahoning Valley on the Pennsylvania line, betting on aerospace and additive manufacturing while its population still declines.

Columbus

Columbus: megaprojects, a deep pipeline and apartments in lease-up.

Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway and Union counties. The fastest-growing Ohio market, where timing matters as much as demand.

The Columbus metro held 2,242,028 residents on July 1, 2025 80, after a one-year gain of +21,312 81. A secondary compilation puts the April 2020 base at 2,138,926 and five-year growth at +4.8% 82. Builders followed: 15,887 housing units were permitted in 2025, summed from the monthly Census series 83, and multifamily permits reached 9,548 in the twelve months to August 2025, up +36% 84. Payrolls, though, have stalled. They stood at 1,199.7k in August 2026, preliminary, only +0.7k above August 2025, a change BLS rates as not statistically significant 85. Population is now running ahead of jobs, so a Columbus study should not carry the hiring pace of earlier years into its projections.

Two megaprojects shape the market's expectations. Intel's Ohio One in Licking County is planned at more than $28 billion for two fabs, with the first module now due to finish in 2030 77; NBC4 reported Intel spent about $1.4 billion in Ohio in 2025 78, though the research records a higher figure in Intel's own 2026 report to the state, so the spending pace is not settled; and about 80% of New Albany's road, water and storm infrastructure for phase 1 was complete by February 2025 93. Anduril's Arsenal-1 near Rickenbacker in Pickaway County committed $910.5 million and 4,008 jobs by 2035 7475, in a plant of up to 5M square feet that opened three months early with a target of 250 workers by the end of 2026 75; its first Ohio-built aircraft left the line 557 days after the announcement 76. Rickenbacker's two runways run 12,000 feet 79. The headline job counts are end-state targets a decade out. A study near either site should underwrite on hiring already on site and on a dated schedule, with a case in which the timetable slips again.

Apartments show why the definition of vacancy matters. Matthews' second-quarter 2026 report puts stabilized vacancy at 4.20% and counts 9,070 units being built, 4.1% of inventory 86; Realist Capital's all-product rate, including buildings in lease-up, is 10.2% 87. Colliers counted 218,113 units, 10,382 vacant, at an average rent of $1,405 in the first quarter 88. The gap between those vacancy readings is the lease-up overhang: a new multifamily project competes with recently delivered buildings offering concessions, so its absorption should be modeled against the pipeline, not against stabilized vacancy.

Hotels ran 60.7% occupancy over the twelve months to the first quarter of 2026, with RevPAR up +4.7% and 807 rooms under construction 89. Industrial vacancy was 6.4% in Matthews' second-quarter count 91 and 6.6% in Newmark's first-quarter count, down from 9.4% a year earlier, with direct asking rent up +9.5% to $6.71 a square foot 92. In the city of Columbus, 87 self-storage facilities hold 5,447,607 square feet, 4.5 square feet for each resident, and 62,580 square feet were delivered in 2025 90; those are city figures, and a facility in the suburban counties needs its own census.

Full-service liquor permit transfers in Columbus ran $20,000 to $25,000 in late 2023 29, and short-term rentals need a city permit 66. Jerome Township in Delaware County adopted a data center zoning moratorium in September 2025 36. Telhio Credit Union reported 44 SBA approvals in FY2025 among about 150 lenders in what it called the Columbus District 94, and a Hocking County solar glass manufacturer received a USDA guarantee of about $16.4 million in December 2025 95. Franklin, Licking and Perry counties are in DR-4945 46.

Cleveland

Cleveland: apartment vacancy below Columbus, and thin new permitting.

Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain and Medina counties. Little new supply supports rents; hotels and industrial absorption are softer.

A Cleveland file should start with apartments. Second-quarter 2026 vacancy stood at 3.68%, 90 basis points below the prior quarter, with rent at $1,451, up +2.88% over the year 96. That vacancy is below the 4.20% stabilized Columbus rate the same publisher reports 86; the research has no published Cincinnati vacancy rate. Colliers counted 178,925 units at 95.8% occupancy in the first quarter, 7,533 of them empty, renting at an average of $1,419 88. Marcus & Millichap describes multifamily permitting at the end of 2025 as among the lowest in the nation 102. A residential study in the core should still list any conversions under way as competitive supply, since a permit count may not show them.

The demand behind those rents is steady rather than growing. Census estimates put the metro at 2,165,775 people on July 1, 2025 81, a one-year change of +2,539 56, with 1,232,925 of them in Cuyahoga County 51. Payrolls grew by +4.1k over the year to August 2026, too small a move for BLS to call significant, on a preliminary base of 1,096.7k jobs 85. Rent growth here comes from scarce supply, not from new households, so a study should show what its rent line does if conversions and the few permitted projects deliver in the same year.

Hotels are softer. Newmark's report shows RevPAR down -2.8% year to date in 2025 and a RevPAR index of 0.824 against the top 104 markets 97; the 2026 forecast is about 60% occupancy and an average daily rate of about $133, with the Cleveland Clinic cited as the institutional demand driver 89. A hotel study should tie its demand to the hospital and convention calendars and treat the forecast as a forecast. The city's short-term rental ordinance 561-2026, effective in late November 2026, sets a $150 annual license and applies to stays of 30 consecutive days or fewer 100.

Cushman & Wakefield's third-quarter 2026 count has industrial vacancy rising to 4.0% from 3.8%, with net absorption of -176,070 square feet and 1.8M square feet under construction 98; the Lake County submarket around Mentor sat at 3.1% in the second quarter 99. Small-bay buildings along I-71 toward Strongsville and Medina County have outperformed 103. A full-service liquor permit transfer in Cleveland ran about $25,000 in late 2023 29. None of the six counties is in DR-4945.

Cincinnati (Ohio side)

Cincinnati: five Ohio counties of a three-state market.

This section covers only Hamilton, Butler, Warren, Clermont and Brown counties. The Kentucky and Indiana counties of the same metro are outside this page.

The Cincinnati metro reaches into northern Kentucky and southeastern Indiana, and much of the published market data describes all three states together. A lender financing an Ohio project should not accept those blended figures as the trade area. Refusing them costs an apartment vacancy rate, since the research derives one from metro-wide counts and advises against relying on it, and it found no employer list or traffic count for the metro at all. A trade area that stays in Ohio is assembled from its own counties; one that crosses the river treats each side separately and says so.

The research carries figures for three of the Ohio counties. Butler County held 400,128 residents on July 1, 2025, Warren County 257,181 and Clermont County 216,977, by a secondary compilation of Census estimates 51. The research does not carry Hamilton or Brown county totals. A study in Butler, Warren or Clermont should build its demographics from its own county rather than from Hamilton County's, and a site in Brown County needs its own demographic base.

City-level storage evidence is unusually specific. RentCafe's August 2026 report puts self-storage supply in the city of Cincinnati at 4.3 square feet per capita, with 68,673 square feet expected to open in 2026, about 2% of inventory 52. That is a modest pipeline, but it describes the city, not the suburban counties, so a self-storage facility in Butler or Warren needs its own competitor census and per capita calculation.

Two local rules affect lodging. The City of Cincinnati charges a $250 short-term rental registration fee, for a three-year term, and requires registration before operation 34. Hamilton County's own lodging tax page states the county rate as 7.5% in one place and 6.5% in another 53. A hotel study cannot settle that from the page; it should obtain the rate in force from the county budget office in writing, because the difference flows straight into net revenue. For hotels, that rate is one of the few local lodging inputs backed by a public document.

The 2026 storms reached this market. Hamilton and Clermont counties are in DR-4945, and Brown, Butler and Warren border the declared area and can draw on SBA's economic injury loans 4647. The only SBA lender ranking found is an aggregator's tally for the city of Cincinnati with no stated period, too loose to cite here.

Dayton

Dayton: an economy organized around Wright-Patterson.

Greene, Miami and Montgomery counties. Demand here rises and falls with federal decisions more than with any private employer.

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base sets the terms for this market. It counted about 38,000 military, civilian and contractor personnel in 2024, and a Dayton Development Coalition study cited by the area's congressman valued the yearly regional contribution of the base, the Dayton VA and the Springfield Air National Guard at $16.68 billion 5473. Concentration is the risk. In March 2025 the base had between 15,000 and 16,000 civilian employees, and the Air Force was planning civilian reductions of 5% to 8% 55. A study near the base, whether apartments in Beavercreek, a hotel serving contractors or restaurants in Fairborn, should show how its demand holds if civilian headcount falls, rather than projecting the 2024 total forward. No Dayton apartment, hotel or storage series appears in the research to test that against, so the study has to count the units and rooms the base population actually uses.

Around that anchor the region is inching up. Compiled Vintage 2025 estimates give the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek metro 826,554 people on July 1, 2025, a gain of +5,604 over twelve months 56. Payroll jobs passed 400,000 in June 2026 for the first time since 2005, reaching 400,800 on a preliminary, seasonally adjusted basis, up +0.6% for the year to date 57. Slow, steady growth suits owner-operated businesses whose study can show a stable customer base rather than a surge.

Industrial space is nearly full. NAI Ohio Equities' big-box tracker reads Dayton availability at about 2% in July 2026, a level it calls essentially full 49. That supports a build-to-suit or speculative industrial case on absorption, but a borrower expanding into existing space may not find any, so the study should price building instead. Site access and local lending appetite are left to the field visit, because the research found no traffic counts or lender data for the metro.

The state's one existing Ohio worked case sits west of this market. Darke County, where the Versailles gas station case is set, is not part of the Dayton metro, and the case draws on village, county and state evidence rather than metro figures. Indianapolis, the nearest large market west across the Indiana line, has its own Indianapolis page.

Toledo

Toledo: big boxes on the Michigan line, with space to fill.

Fulton, Lucas and Wood counties. A flat population and soft big-box availability put the burden on absorption evidence.

Toledo has warehouse space to spare. The big-box tracker kept by NAI Ohio Equities puts availability here at about 17%, on roughly 15M square feet tracked and concentrated in Rossford 49. A speculative warehouse in this market needs pre-leasing or a named tenant before a lender credits its absorption. The same figure helps a different borrower: a business buying or leasing a building can show that prices and rents favor the occupier, which strengthens an owner-occupied 504 case.

Payroll evidence leans down. PNC estimated employment at -1.3% for the first half of 2026 60, though the research also records a flat year-to-date reading and no official twelve-month change, and the FRED series, read by the research from a search extract, shows 300.4k jobs in August 2026 59. Residents held almost exactly level: 599,376 on July 1, 2025, a change of -26 in a year 56, of whom 423,347 live in Lucas County 51. A Toledo pro forma that assumes a rising customer count needs a named source for it. Northward the market runs into the territory of our Michigan page, and Detroit, the large market up I-75, has its own Detroit page.

The city's own spending is small-scale but useful for retail and restaurant site selection. In May 2026 the City of Toledo awarded 19 Vibrancy Initiative grants with $630,000 of city money, expected to bring $13.5 million of private investment, and 11 of the awards sit on designated legacy commercial corridors 58. For a retail study the award list is a dated local signal to cite, block by block; the research holds no Toledo apartment, hotel, storage or traffic series to set beside it. The city also highlighted a 2026 park capital program of more than $4 million, including stream restoration aimed at flooding and water quality 61; a site near those streams should state its flood zone.

Akron

Akron: Summit and Portage counties, where public works set the pace.

Summit and Portage counties. Public road and sewer projects, more than private ones, decide where development can go next.

In Akron the documented money is public, and the sewer is the item a lender should read first. In Peninsula, in Summit County, a new centralized sewer system is estimated at $11 million, with $1.09 million of federal funding in FY2026 65. A study for a site there must state its wastewater solution and the date service is expected. Approved early in 2026, an improvement to the SR-619 corridor in New Franklin is budgeted at $4.9 million or more 63, and a site on that corridor should set the construction schedule against its opening date.

Underneath, the base barely moves. Summit County held 538,376 people on July 1, 2025 and Portage County 163,404 51, in a metro of 701,780 that added +1,628 over the year 56. On jobs the sources disagree: PNC put first-half 2026 employment at -0.1% 62, another outlet reported a year-to-date gain, and the research flags the conflict, so a study should cite the official series for its own months.

The research holds no industrial vacancy for a stated Akron geography: the one Akron cross-reference sits in a Cleveland report 64 and does not say whether it covers the city or the metro, so a study should pull its own county-level CoStar figures. Short-term rentals require registration and tax 66. A lodging or retail study here meets the same silence on hotel performance, apartments and storage, and on any private project over $50 million, so its demand case rests on traffic it counts at the Summit County interstate exits and on named competitors.

Canton

Canton-Massillon: a steady headcount and a softening job estimate.

Stark and Carroll counties. The market holds its size, almost all of it in one county, while first-half 2026 jobs slipped.

Nearly the whole Canton-Massillon market is Stark County: 373,771 residents live there and 26,475 in Carroll County 51, out of 400,246 for the metro on July 1, 2025 in the same secondary compilation 51. A one-year change of +439 56 is small enough that a study should treat the customer base as fixed and earn its revenue by taking share. The two counties call for different cases. A Stark County project competes inside the city of Canton and its suburbs; a Carroll County site is rural enough that the research raises, without verifying, the chance of USDA eligibility, which the program map can settle.

Jobs give no reason to relax that assumption. PNC's reading for the first half of 2026 has employment at -0.5% 62, so a pro forma that grows sales faster than prices needs a named local cause. The research found no employer list, project pipeline, traffic count, hotel tax rate, lender figure or supply series for this market; a lender should expect the competitor count and interviews in the file to carry dates and names.

The one binding local rule the research found concerns short-term rentals, which the city confines to a handful of multi-family zoning districts 66, so a conversion or small lodging proposal should confirm its district before anything else.

Youngstown

Youngstown-Warren: aerospace bets in a shrinking market.

Mahoning and Trumbull counties, on the Pennsylvania line. Public investment is real; population growth is not.

Youngstown's case rests on public investment. The Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace and Defense, announced in February 2025, totals $62 million or more: $26 million from the state's Innovation Hubs Program and $36 million from local, federal and private sources 67; the source's own headline says $60 million. In September 2026 Youngstown State University received a $400,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant for electrical infrastructure, including a new pole line of more than 1,000 feet serving 7 businesses 68. Downtown, a former bank tower conversion drew a $1 million Vibrant Communities grant 71.

Mahoning County's unemployment rate was 5.0% in August 2026 70, and the BLS area page, as the research read it, counts 165.6k jobs on area payrolls that month, preliminary 69; PNC's estimate has first-half employment at -0.4% 62. Fewer people stood behind those jobs than a year before. Of the 423,678 residents a secondary compilation gives the Youngstown-Warren metro on July 1, 2025 51, Mahoning County held 224,706 51 and Trumbull County 198,972 56, and the metro's one-year change was -913 56. The market runs east into Mercer County, Pennsylvania, which this page does not cover, and a trade area along the state line should count both sides, Pennsylvania figures included (see the Pennsylvania page for that state's rules).

The hub and the downtown grants support workforce housing, lodging and food service near the university, but they do not reverse that trend, and the research offers nothing to size those uses against: no supply, traffic, hotel or lender figure for the metro. A Youngstown study should underwrite on share and on demand generators it can name, and should confirm that utility capacity is in place at the site, since the pole line grant shows it was not everywhere.

Lender Checklist

Where the Ohio evidence runs thin.

Each item comes from a gap or a conflict in the published Ohio record. A study that resolves them is stronger than one that quotes around them.

  1. SBA volume quoted without a basis

    Three secondary sources give three different Ohio SBA totals for 2024 and 2025, and no official single-year count was retrieved. The study should use SBA's loan-level data or name the source it quotes.

  2. A liquor license assumed rather than priced

    Under the quota a new permit may not exist in the precinct. The study should carry a dated transfer quote and confirm a permit is for sale.

  3. The tank fund left out of a fuel pro forma

    The per-tank fee, the deductible option and the chance of a supplemental fee belong in operating costs and contingencies, with the fund's current balance from a primary document.

  4. Power availability assumed in the AEP territory

    Signed data center load on AEP Ohio's system runs to thousands of megawatts, and the research found no capacity figure for anything else. For any sizable new load in AEP Ohio's territory, the utility's written capacity date belongs in the file before construction draws begin.

  5. A competitive survey dated before August 2026

    In the seven declared counties and their neighbors, competitors may be closed or rebuilding. The survey date should follow the storms.

  6. Supply claimed without a census

    The research found no statewide Ohio series for apartment, hotel, storage, senior housing or childcare supply. The study's own competitor census is the evidence, and it should list every facility it counted.

Worked Cases

Worked cases in Ohio.

Ohio has one published worked case so far: a start-up fuel and convenience store in a Darke County village.

The case sizes a 7(a) loan for a start-up with no trading record, finds that the sponsor's request fails the coverage floor, and restructures it at roughly half equity. Its first lender condition is local: whether the site lies inside the village's drinking-water protection zone, where underground fuel tanks are banned. Cases from other states are collected in the case library.

By Asset Class

Where Ohio's state rules land, class by class.

Which class a project belongs to decides which of this page's Ohio rules it meets, and whether it meets any.

The Ohio gates on this page fall unevenly. A fuel station carries the tank fund, a bar or full-service restaurant the liquor quota, a skilled nursing project the certificate of need, and a hotel a layered lodging tax that has to be confirmed locally. Self-storage, childcare, RV parks and car washes met no state-level rule in the research, so their studies turn on local zoning and a competitor census.

Ohio Questions

Ohio feasibility study questions.

Why does a Columbus feasibility study turn on timing rather than demand?

Because every input carries its own date, and a Columbus file is read by lining them up. Residents are estimated as of July 1, 2025 80, multifamily permits run through August 2025 84, and payrolls are preliminary for August 2026 85; the subject will open later than all three. What a credit officer tests is sequence: how many permitted units will have delivered and leased by that opening, and how many announced plant jobs will be filled, since households arrived first and employers are still catching up. A study that answers both with dated schedules holds; one that quotes the metro's size does not.

Does the choice of bank change an Ohio SBA feasibility study?

It changes what the study is asked to prove. Huntington National Bank reported 2,283 Ohio 7(a) loans in FY2024 against 153 at the next lender 16, so the study's burden depends on the bank. A lender with fewer Ohio 7(a) files may need the study to supply benchmarks: achieved rents, occupancies and margins from named competitors, each dated. A 504 request adds a third reader, the development company, pricing its debenture at the posted rate, 6.27% on the two longer terms in August 2026 17, so coverage is tested on two loans at once.

How does the Ohio liquor quota affect a restaurant or bar study?

The permit becomes capital rather than a fee. Where the quota is full, a full-service permit changes hands privately, at $15,000 to $20,000 for a typical transfer by a late 2023 overview 29, with the annual fee on top, $2,344 for a D-5 in 2026 by a secondary source 30. Bought rather than issued, the permit belongs in project cost. The finding the study owes is which case the subject is in: a precinct with a permit for sale, a college-town price, or a quota with room left.

What does the Ohio petroleum tank fund mean for a gas station loan?

A state compensation fund covers releases from petroleum underground storage tanks, and its terms set the uninsured loss. For program year 2026 the fund pays up to $1 million for each release 3132, but the operator carries a first loss whose size is chosen: a $55,000 deductible on the standard option or $11,000 on the reduced-deductible one 3132. Put that choice next to the liquidity the sponsor keeps after closing. A borrower unable to fund a $55,000 deductible from cash has an uncovered gap under the collateral. The study should also say whether the tanks change hands at closing, since a transfer carries a fee 3132.

Does AEP Ohio's data center tariff apply to a hotel, factory or warehouse?

No. Its terms bind only new data centers of 25 MW or more 41; a hotel, a plant or a warehouse sits outside it. Because of that scope the tariff tells their lenders nothing about service dates, and the research found no other published capacity figure for them. What it does show is scale: 5,642 MW had been signed on its terms by February 2026, out of 17,861 MW under agreement for data centers in all 43.

Which Ohio counties are in the 2026 disaster declaration, and what should a study there show?

Seven, for now: Franklin, Licking and Perry in the center, Muskingum and Morgan to the southeast, and Hamilton and Clermont around Cincinnati 46. The list may grow: the Governor's office still had 16 counties under review when it counted 806 properties with major damage, preliminarily 44, so a county outside it at application may be inside at closing. Businesses in the contiguous counties can also apply for SBA economic injury disaster loans 47, so competitors there may stay open on borrowed working capital. Show demand holding when the damaged supply returns, and state what the subject's insurer has said since August.

Worked Cases

Worked cases in Ohio.

Neighboring Markets

States that border Ohio.

Financing a project in Ohio? Send the site and the program first.

Send the county, the concept and the lender's program, and we will name the Ohio gates the study must clear, from the liquor quota and the tank fund to an AEP service letter, before a fee is set.

Request a methodology briefing
Sources

Data sources and dates.

Every figure on this page traces to a named, dated source. Aggregators, news reports of official data and secondary restatements are identified as such in the text.

Market data reviewed by Mark Otava · Updated

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Population Growth Slows Due to Historic Decline in Net International Migration, January 27, 2026 (Vintage 2025).
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, QuickFacts: Ohio, Vintage 2025 estimates.
  3. JobsOhio, Latest Census Data Show Ohio's Population Growth, 2026 (restating Census Vintage 2025).
  4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Midwest Information Office, Ohio regional data page, August 2026 data (preliminary, seasonally adjusted).
  5. Business Journal Daily (Ohio Department of Job and Family Services data), Ohio's Unemployment Rate Declines to 3.3% in August, September 18, 2026.
  6. Tribune Chronicle (Ohio Department of Job and Family Services data), Ohio's unemployment rate falls to 3.3% in August, September 2026.
  7. U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, Ohio Employment Update, Released September 18, 2026.
  8. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rates for States, August 2026.
  9. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Detailed Tables, 2020-2024, 2020-2024 estimates.
  10. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Personal Income by County and Metropolitan Area (table CAINC1), 2024, 2024 estimates.
  11. U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Capital Access, 7(a) and 504 FOIA loan-level data, as of June 30, 2026.
  12. U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns, 2023 County Business Patterns, 2023 data year.
  13. SBALoanIndex (aggregator of SBA loan data), SBA Lending in Ohio, Data as of March 31, 2026.
  14. GoSBA Loans (aggregator), Best Ohio SBA Lenders & Rates of 2026, 2026 (2025 lending).
  15. Richland Source (citing SBA), Richland County businesses received $5.8 million in SBA loans in 2024, April 5, 2025.
  16. Huntington Bancshares, Huntington Bank is Nation's Top SBA 7(a) Lender by Volume for Seventh Consecutive Year, October 9, 2024.
  17. Ohio Statewide Development Corp., SBA 504 Rate History, August 2026 rates.
  18. U.S. Small Business Administration, Ohio District, 2026.
  19. USDA Rural Development, USDA Invests Nearly $1 Million in Renewable Energy to Strengthen Ohio Small Businesses and Ag Producers, January 13, 2025.
  20. USDA Rural Development, Ohio Contacts, 2026.
  21. Ohio Department of Development, State Small Business Credit Initiative, Allocation approved 2022 to 2023.
  22. Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Launches Venture Capital Programs for Tech-Based Companies, August 30, 2023.
  23. Ohio Department of Development, Ohio Capital Access Program (OCAP), 2026.
  24. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 13 CFR 120.160, Loan conditions, Current.
  25. U.S. Small Business Administration, SOP 50 10: Lender and Development Company Loan Programs, SOP 50 10 8.1, effective October 1, 2026.
  26. Ohio Department of Health, Certificate of Need, 2026.
  27. Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Final analysis (nursing home certificate of need changes), August 6, 2024 (implemented 2025).
  28. Ohio Revised Code, Section 4303.29, Liquor permit quotas, Current statute.
  29. W.H. Burkley (law firm), Overview: Ohio Liquor Permitting, November 1, 2023.
  30. Next Insurance (secondary), Ohio Liquor License Requirements, 2026.
  31. Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Redbook, HB 96 (136th General Assembly): Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Release Compensation Board, 2025 (program year 2026 terms).
  32. Petroleum UST Release Compensation Board, Program information and board meeting attachments, January 2026 (registrations as of December 27, 2025).
  33. Citizen Portal (report of legislative testimony, secondary), Petroleum tank board reports fund shortfall risk, maintains fees pending rising claims costs, 2025 (testimony February 12, 2025).
  34. CheckMate Rentals (secondary), Ohio Short-Term Rental Laws (2026), 2026.
  35. Ohio Department of Taxation, Lodging Tax: Tax Rates and Collections by Local Governments, CY2018, CY2018 publication.
  36. ServerCountry (secondary), Ohio Data Center Policy, undated.
  37. Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio Minimum Wage Set to Increase in 2026, Effective January 1, 2026.
  38. Ohio Administrative Code, Rule 3901-1-18, Ohio FAIR Plan plan of operation, Effective April 1, 2025.
  39. StillInsurable (secondary), Ohio FAIR Plan, 2024 filing (June 2024).
  40. City of Canton (reproducing the Ohio Department of Commerce notice), Prevailing Wage Threshold Levels 2026, As of January 1, 2026.
  41. POWER Magazine, Regulator Approves AEP Ohio's Landmark Data Center Tariff, July 2025 (approved July 9, effective July 23, 2025).
  42. WOSU, AEP Ohio to adopt separate rates for data centers, end moratorium to bring new data centers online, July 10, 2025.
  43. New Project Media, AEP Ohio touts 'right-sized load'..., 2026 (AEP Ohio letter to PUCO, February 12, 2026).
  44. Office of the Governor of Ohio, Presidential Major Disaster Declaration Approved for Seven Ohio Counties, October 2, 2026.
  45. USAFacts (secondary), How many disasters are declared in Ohio?, 1980 to September 2026 (as of September 3, 2026).
  46. Federal Emergency Management Agency, President Donald J. Trump Approves Major Disaster Declaration for Ohio (HQ-26-149), October 2, 2026.
  47. U.S. Small Business Administration, Federal Register, Presidential Declaration of a Major Disaster for the State of Ohio, October 7, 2026.
  48. Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Executive Summary - State of Ohio Hazard Mitigation Plan, 2024 plan.
  49. Terry Coyne (NAI Ohio Equities), Ohio Industrial Market - Top 18 Insights, July 2026.
  50. Ohio Legislative Service Commission, Bill analysis (short-term rental preemption bills), March 5, 2025.
  51. Wikipedia (citing U.S. Census Bureau estimates; secondary), Ohio statistical areas, Population as of July 1, 2025.
  52. RentCafe (Yardi Matrix), August 2026 self storage report, Data August 2026.
  53. Hamilton County, Ohio, Hotel Lodging Tax, Current county page (2026).
  54. WDTN, Wright-Patterson surpasses 38K personnel on base, August 12, 2024.
  55. WYSO, What we know (and don't know) about sweeping federal job cuts and Wright-Patt, March 14, 2025.
  56. All Columbus Data (Census Vintage 2025), 2025 County and Metro Population Estimates, March 26, 2026.
  57. Journal-News (reporting BLS data), Dayton region now has 400k+ jobs for first time since 2005, August 6, 2026.
  58. City of Toledo, Mayor Kapszukiewicz Announces 19 Vibrancy Initiative Grant Awards Expected to Spur $13.5 Million in Investment Across 10 Neighborhoods, May 15, 2026.
  59. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED (BLS data), Series TOLE739NAN, All Employees: Total Nonfarm in Toledo, OH (MSA), August 2026.
  60. NEOtrans (citing PNC), Cleveland leads Ohio job growth in 2026, August 13, 2026.
  61. City of Toledo, City Highlights 2026 Parks and Stream Restoration Projects..., May 11, 2026.
  62. Akron Cleveland Association of Realtors (citing PNC), Cleveland leads Ohio job growth in 2026, 2026 (first half of 2026).
  63. Akron.com, Greater Akron area starts 2026 with 21 new projects, February 26, 2026.
  64. Bluebird CRE (CoStar data), Cleveland Industrial Market Report, Q1 2026.
  65. Signal Akron, Federal money coming to downtown Akron, Copley Road areas..., undated.
  66. BNBCalc, Ohio Short-Term Rental Regulations: A 2026 Guide, 2026.
  67. Mahoning Matters, Ohio invests $60 million into Youngstown's aerospace, 3-D printing industries, March 3, 2025 (announced February 27, 2025).
  68. WYTV, $1.9 million awarded for Youngstown projects, September 29, 2026.
  69. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Midwest Information Office, Youngstown-Warren area economic summary page, August 2026 (preliminary).
  70. Ohio Labor Market Information, Civilian Labor Force Estimates, August 2026, August 2026.
  71. Business Journal Daily, Projects Take Shape Across 5 Counties, 2026.
  72. Growth Capital Corp. (a CDC; self-interested source), These Are the Top SBA 504 Loan Lenders in Ohio, undated (most recent ranking as captured in 2026).
  73. Dayton Daily News, America250: Some of the area's most impactful employers, 2026.
  74. Fortune, Anduril...Ohio Arsenal-1, January 16, 2025.
  75. NBC4 WCMH, Anduril's Ohio plant opens three months ahead of schedule, March 20, 2026.
  76. JobsOhio, First Ohio-Built Fury Rolls Off Anduril's Arsenal-1 Production Line, July 27, 2026.
  77. Intel Newsroom, Ohio One Construction Timeline Update, February 28, 2025.
  78. NBC4 WCMH, Intel spent $1.4 billion in Ohio in 2025, doesn't anticipate further delays, 2026.
  79. Manufacturing Dive, Anduril chooses Ohio for $1B manufacturing facility, January 2025.
  80. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED (Census data), Resident Population in Columbus, OH (MSA) (COLPOP), March 27, 2026 (population as of July 1, 2025).
  81. WOSU (Census Vintage 2025), Metro Columbus gains 21,000 residents according to new census numbers, March 26, 2026.
  82. Wikipedia (citing U.S. Census Bureau; secondary), Columbus metropolitan area, Ohio, 2020 base and 2025 estimate.
  83. Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, FRED (Census data), New Private Housing Units Authorized by Building Permits for Columbus, OH (MSA) (COLU139BPPRIV), CY2025 (sum of monthly not seasonally adjusted values).
  84. RealPage (secondary), August 2025 Metro Permit Update, 12 months to August 2025.
  85. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Over-the-year change in total nonfarm employment for large metropolitan areas, September 30, 2026 (August 2026, preliminary).
  86. Matthews, Columbus, OH Multifamily Market Report Q2 2026, August 20, 2026.
  87. Realist Capital, Columbus Multifamily Vacancy Plateaus at 10.2%..., July 10, 2026.
  88. NEOtrans (citing Colliers), Cleveland has Ohio's highest apartment rents, April 28, 2026 (Q1 2026 data).
  89. Cornovus Capital, Midwest Hospitality Market Report Q1 2026, Q1 2026 (trailing 12 months; 2026 forecasts citing Marcus & Millichap).
  90. StorageCafe (Yardi Matrix), Columbus, OH Self Storage... 2026, 2026.
  91. Matthews, Columbus Industrial Market Report Q2 2026, Q2 2026.
  92. Newmark, Columbus Real Estate Market Reports, 1Q26.
  93. NBC4 WCMH, Ohio Intel plant construction in New Albany delayed by at least three years, February 28, 2025.
  94. Telhio Credit Union (lender self-report), Telhio Credit Union Ranked Among Top SBA Lenders in Ohio, June 4, 2026 (FY2025).
  95. USDA Rural Development, USDA Rural Development Invests $16.4 Million to Expand Solar Glass Production in Ohio, December 30, 2025.
  96. Matthews, Cleveland, OH Multifamily Market Report Q2 2026, Q2 2026.
  97. Newmark, Midwest Hotel Market Report - Cleveland, Year to date 2025 (report undated).
  98. Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat Cleveland Industrial Q3 2026, Q3 2026.
  99. City of Mentor (citing CoStar), Q2 2026 Mentor Industrial Vacancy Rate at 3.1%, Q2 2026.
  100. Avalara MyLodgeTax, Cleveland passes new short-term rental law, June 2026 (Ordinance 561-2026 passed June 1, 2026).
  101. Crain's Cleveland Business, Here are the largest SBA lenders in Northern Ohio, undated (FY2023 data).
  102. Marcus & Millichap, Cleveland Multifamily Market Report 1Q 2026, 1Q 2026.
  103. REBusinessOnline, Northeast Ohio Industrial Market Turns a Corner, Q1 2026.
  104. Ohio Administrative Code (Legislative Service Commission), Rule 3701-12-09, certificate of need (authenticated text), effective September 22, 2025.
  105. Greater Ohio Policy Center, Bill Tracker, undated (status as of mid-2026).