Capital Markets & Debt Advisory
FOCAL structures debt and equity solutions for commercial real estate transactions nationwide, including bridge debt, construction financing, permanent loans, agency multifamily financing, mezzanine capital, preferred equity, and joint venture equity.
FOCAL Advisory specializes in debt and equity placement for commercial real estate: bridge, construction, permanent and agency financing, mezzanine capital, preferred equity, and joint venture equity. We arrange capital for developers, investors, and property owners nationwide from our headquarters in Beverly Hills, California.
Our capital markets practice arranges financing across a broad spectrum of capital sources - from institutional funds and CMBS to agencies, local banks, and private money lenders. We work on multifamily, mixed-use, and commercial real estate transactions nationwide, structured to maximize execution speed and certainty of close.
Financing Programs
- Bridge Debt: $1M–$500M+ Loan Size, Up to 75% LTV, 6–36 Months Term, As Fast as 10 Days Closing
- Construction Financing: $5M–$500M+ Loan Size, Up to 75% LTC, 18–48 Months Term, Ground-Up & Completion Execution
- Permanent Financing: $1M–$500M+ Loan Size, Up to 80% LTV, 5–30 Years Term, Up to 30 Years Amortization
- Joint Venture Equity: $2M–$100M+ Equity Check, $10M–$500M+ Project Size, JV, LP & Co-GP Structures, Acquisition & Development Stage
- Private Money Loans: $1M–$100M+ Loan Size, Up to 70% LTV, 6–36 Months Term, As Fast as 5–10 Days Closing
- Mezzanine & Preferred Equity: $2M–$100M+ Capital Size, Up to 85–90% Combined Leverage, 1–5 Years Term, Mezz & Pref Equity Structure
Commercial Real Estate Financing FAQs
What does a commercial real estate capital advisor do?
A commercial real estate capital advisor helps property owners, developers and investors identify, structure and secure debt and equity financing. FOCAL evaluates a project's capital needs, positions the opportunity for the market, sources financing from appropriate capital providers, negotiates terms and manages the process through closing.
Who arranges commercial real estate financing in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles?
FOCAL is a commercial real estate debt and equity advisory firm headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. Our principal-led capital markets team arranges financing for real estate owners, sponsors and developers throughout Los Angeles, California and nationwide.
What loan sizes does FOCAL arrange?
FOCAL arranges commercial real estate financing from $1 million to $500 million+. Transactions include bridge loans, construction financing, permanent loans, agency multifamily financing, private money loans, mezzanine debt, preferred equity and joint venture equity.
What types of commercial real estate financing does FOCAL arrange?
FOCAL arranges a broad range of commercial real estate debt and equity, including:
- Bridge loans
- Construction financing
- Permanent financing
- Agency multifamily loans
- Private money and alternative lending
- Mezzanine financing
- Preferred equity
- Joint venture and LP equity
- Acquisition financing
- Refinances and recapitalizations
Each financing is structured around the property, business plan, sponsorship, leverage requirements and timing of the transaction.
What property types does FOCAL finance?
FOCAL arranges financing across a wide range of commercial real estate asset classes, including multifamily, mixed-use, retail, industrial, office, hospitality, land, development projects and investment residential properties.
We work on stabilized assets as well as acquisitions, ground-up development, renovation, lease-up, repositioning and other transitional properties.
Does FOCAL arrange commercial real estate financing outside of California?
Yes. FOCAL is headquartered in Beverly Hills and arranges commercial real estate debt and equity nationwide. Our team works with sponsors and capital providers across primary, secondary and tertiary markets throughout the United States.
How does FOCAL find the best commercial real estate loan for a borrower?
Rather than approaching a single lender, FOCAL runs a targeted capital process based on the specific property and transaction. The firm maintains a proprietary database of more than 7,000 lender relationships, and depending on the assignment we may source financing from banks, credit unions, debt funds, life insurance companies, agency lenders, private lenders, family offices and other institutional capital providers.
Our role is to identify the lenders or investors best suited to the transaction and negotiate around the factors that matter most, including proceeds, pricing, structure, recourse, reserves, prepayment flexibility and certainty of execution.
How quickly can a commercial real estate loan close?
Commercial real estate loan closing times depend on the property, financing structure, lender and required diligence. FOCAL has arranged financings that closed in as little as five days when the transaction required an expedited execution and the necessary information was available.
Bridge and private money loans can generally close faster than conventional bank, construction or permanent financing, which may require additional underwriting, appraisal, third-party reports and approvals.
What is a commercial real estate bridge loan?
A commercial real estate bridge loan is short-term financing commonly used for acquisitions, renovations, lease-up, repositioning, recapitalizations or properties that are not yet ready for permanent financing.
FOCAL arranges bridge financing for transitional commercial real estate projects nationwide, including situations requiring speed, flexible underwriting, future funding or a clear path to stabilization.
Does FOCAL arrange construction loans for ground-up development?
Yes. FOCAL arranges construction financing for ground-up development, redevelopment and partially completed projects. Construction financing can include land or acquisition basis, existing debt payoff, hard and soft construction costs, interest reserves and other project costs depending on the lender and transaction.
FOCAL works with developers to structure construction financing around total project cost, required equity, loan-to-cost, construction schedule and the anticipated exit strategy.
Does FOCAL arrange permanent financing for stabilized commercial properties?
Yes. FOCAL arranges permanent commercial real estate financing for stabilized and cash-flowing properties. Depending on the asset and borrower, financing may be sourced from banks, credit unions, life insurance companies, agency lenders, CMBS lenders and other institutional capital providers.
Permanent financing can be used for acquisitions, refinances, maturing debt, cash-out refinances and the takeout of bridge or construction loans.
Does FOCAL arrange commercial real estate equity as well as debt?
Yes. In addition to senior debt, FOCAL arranges joint venture equity, limited partner equity, preferred equity and mezzanine capital for commercial real estate transactions.
These structures can be used to capitalize acquisitions and developments, fill gaps between senior loan proceeds and required equity, recapitalize existing ownership or provide additional growth capital.
What is the difference between mezzanine financing and preferred equity?
Mezzanine financing and preferred equity are both forms of subordinate capital commonly used between senior debt and common equity.
Mezzanine financing is generally structured as debt secured by an interest in the borrowing entity, while preferred equity is structured as an equity investment with negotiated priority economics and control rights. The appropriate structure depends on the senior lender, project capitalization, required proceeds and sponsor objectives.
Who does FOCAL work with?
FOCAL advises commercial real estate owners, developers, sponsors and investors at different stages of their growth. Our clients range from emerging sponsors financing their first major acquisition or ground-up development to experienced operators refinancing, recapitalizing or expanding large real estate portfolios.
Why work with a commercial real estate capital advisor instead of approaching lenders directly?
A capital advisor can evaluate a transaction across a broader universe of lenders and capital sources rather than limiting the sponsor to one institution or lending relationship.
FOCAL helps clients structure the financing request, identify appropriate capital providers, compare competing proposals, negotiate economic and structural terms, anticipate execution risks and manage the financing process from initial marketing through closing.
How do I get a commercial real estate financing quote from FOCAL?
To evaluate a financing opportunity, FOCAL typically starts with the property location, asset type, requested loan or equity amount, current value or purchase price, existing debt, business plan and desired closing timeline.
Sponsors can contact FOCAL to discuss an acquisition, refinance, construction loan, bridge loan, recapitalization or equity requirement and determine the most appropriate capital strategy.