Going-concern businesses, owner-occupied commercial real estate, non-profits and community facilities. Underwritten on global cash flow and entity coverage rather than property NOI, a different discipline, and one most capital markets desks don't run.
Sized on the operating business, not just the real estate. Rate is quoted deal by deal and not printed here.
The cheapest capital in commercial real estate, and the least shopped.
Underwritten on MADS coverage and days cash on hand, with a gross-revenue pledge rather than pure mortgage security.
CDFI underwriting typically runs 60-90 days. Plan against a purchase contract accordingly.
A subsidy, not cheap debt. Works best on commercial or mixed-use projects with in qualified costs. Below that, transaction costs outweigh the credit.
The credit is of the QEI, claimed . Transaction costs run roughly of the NMTC purchase price, which is why the vast majority are structured as forgivable QLICI loans. The B loan is forgiven at unwind, and that is the point. Sponsors who model this as a low-rate loan get the economics wrong in both directions.
Every product on this page is underwritten on the operating business or the entity, not the real estate. That single distinction is why most capital markets desks decline these deals, and why ours doesn't. It also explains the higher leverage, against on commercial income, which looks aggressive until you understand what's securing it: a business, a guarantor, an entity's revenue stream, not just a cap rate on a building.
Sponsors who come to us from an income-property background bring the wrong questions. The right ones are: what's the global DSCR across the operating entity and any affiliated real estate, what's the guarantor's outside net worth and liquidity, and what does the SBA or bank credit box require this year.
financing at down, with a fixed second behind the bank's first, is a program most business owners assume doesn't exist. Owners default to a conventional down payment because that's what they've heard, and they never ask whether they occupy enough of the building to qualify for SBA 504 instead. If a business occupies or more of a property, this is very likely the cheapest way to buy it.
Build-to-own follows the same logic through construction: financing at down, structured through the same program, for an owner who wants to build rather than buy. A new business or a special-purpose property puts more in: financing at down.
A charter school or community health center doesn't generate market-rate NOI, and lenders who understand mission-driven borrowers don't ask it to. The tests are MADS coverage and days cash on hand, sometimes backed by a gross-revenue pledge rather than pure mortgage security, because the institution's ability to keep operating is the real credit question, not the building's cap rate.
We underwrite charter schools, clinics and community facilities on MADS coverage and days cash on hand, the way CDFI lenders do.
Enter the numbers and see what governs proceeds. When it looks right, hand it to the desk with the figures already filled in.
No cost to size a deal or see your options. Our fee is set in the LOI and paid at closing.
Also consider: Multi-family & Residential Rental · Commercial Income