FranchiseVerdict
Suburban Studios logo
FV-02482·STRONGExcellent81

Suburban Studios

OtherFranchising since 2005Website
Investment
$8.5M – $11.1M
98th pct Other
Avg revenue
50th pct Other
Royalty
6.0%
17th pct Other
Units
104
76th pct Other
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $8.5M – $11.1M including a $40K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated STRONG with a risk score of 54/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 46 loans (below the industry average).
  • System growing at 46.5% CAGR over 3 years with 104 total units — strong expansion trajectory.

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Choice Hotels International, Inc.
Parent company
None
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
915 Meeting Street, Suite 600, North Bethesda, Maryland 20852
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$1.4B
vs $1.5B prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Suburban Studios unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: generic
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $8.5M–$11.1M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $145K–$350K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

1%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$109K
EBITDA margin
14.5%
Total invested
$10.0M
Payback
1108 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Suburban Studios franchisees operate boutique hotel properties, managing daily guest services, housekeeping, front desk operations, and revenue management across their protected territory. Franchisees generate revenue primarily from room bookings and are obligated to pay 6.0% of gross room revenues to the franchisor regardless of profitability.

CEO
Patrick S. Pacious
Founded
1963
FDD year
2024
States available
30

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$8.5M – $11.1M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$145K – $350K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$40K
Royalty
6.0%
Gross Room Revenues · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
2.5%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
8.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
104
Opened
31
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
1.9%
Company-owned
0
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
100%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
+38.7%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+46.5%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
104+29
Franchised units
2023
75
Franchised units
2024
71
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 35 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 35 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
46
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

54
Risk · 0-100
STRONG54 / 100

Suburban Studios presents elevated risk due to extreme capital requirements paired with zero financial transparency, active multi-jurisdictional litigation, and explosive growth rates that may mask underlying unit economics problems.

Score breakdown · what drove the 54 / 100 rating

  1. 01MEDMassive capital requirement ($8.5M–$11.1M) with no disclosed average revenue or net income data to validate ROI potential
  2. 02HIGHMultiple active litigation cases including class action suit, anti-competitive practice claims, and civil rights violations suggesting systemic operational or governance issues
  3. 03MINORAggressive unit growth of 38.7% YoY raises sustainability concerns and may indicate recruitment-heavy expansion rather than organic profitability
  4. 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure prevents independent verification of franchisee profitability claims
  5. 05MINOR6.0% royalty on gross room revenues creates fixed cost burden regardless of net profitability, particularly concerning given lack of income transparency

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Radius or geographically defined area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
20 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
7
Right of first refusal
No
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Maryland

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
50 hrs
On-the-job training
105 hrs
POS system
choiceADVANTAGE
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

90 numbers

Locked
(858) 679-••••
CA
(814) 421-••••
PA
(248) 939-••••
MI

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Suburban Studios · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above