Commercial real estate loans in New York come from three main sources: regional and community banks with deep New York books (M&T, Dime, Flushing Bank, NBT, Community Bank, N.A.), larger regionals that treat the New York metro as a core CRE market (Valley, Webster, Provident), and New York's unusually deep bench of private bridge and construction lenders (Madison Realty Capital, S3 Capital, Emerald Creek, W Financial, ACRES). This guide covers what's available, eight banks and five private lenders genuinely active in the state, one New York-specific cost every borrower should model — the mortgage recording tax — and how the NYC multifamily lending landscape has shifted.
Commercial Real Estate Loans in New York: What's Available
New York borrowers have the full menu — if you're new to the categories, start with our primer on the six types of commercial real estate loans:
- Permanent loans on stabilized property, from community banks upstate to institutional programs in the city. For multifamily, agency executions run through approved lenders — M&T, for example, operates M&T Realty Capital as an accredited Fannie Mae DUS, Freddie Mac Optigo, and FHA lender.
- Multifamily and mixed-use loans — the signature New York product. Dime publishes terms up to $15 million and 75% LTV with 5-, 7-, 10-, and 15-year options; Flushing Bank lends on 5+ unit multifamily and mixed-use buildings with commercial space.
- Construction and bridge loans — available from banks (Community Bank, N.A. publishes bridge, construction, and mezzanine options; Webster writes interim-bridge and construction at institutional scale) and from the private lenders below, who dominate the fast-execution end of the market.
- SBA 7(a) and 504 loans for owner-occupied property — M&T ranked No. 1 among SBA 7(a) lenders in its footprint by loan count in FY2025 (2,701 loans, $294M) and has been a national top-10 SBA lender for 17 consecutive years; NBT is an SBA Preferred Lender upstate.
- Mezzanine debt and preferred equity from private shops when senior debt alone doesn't complete the stack.
The New York-specific line item to model before you sign anything: the mortgage recording tax. New York taxes every recorded mortgage — the state schedule stacks a basic tax, special additional tax, and additional tax per $100 of debt, plus local levies — and on commercial mortgages of $500,000 or more in New York City, the combined rate reaches 2.80% of the loan amount. On a $10 million NYC mortgage that's $280,000 at closing, which is why New York refinances are so often structured as CEMAs (consolidation, extension, and modification agreements): assigning and consolidating the existing mortgage means paying tax only on new money. Ask every lender early whether they'll cooperate with a CEMA — most New York-native lenders will; out-of-state lenders sometimes won't.
One piece of market context worth knowing: the largest NYC multifamily lender of the last cycle, New York Community Bancorp — now Flagstar Financial after its 2024 recapitalization — has been deliberately shrinking its commercial real estate book, cutting CRE loans from $50.6 billion at the end of 2023 to $38.3 billion by the end of 2025 and curtailing new originations on rent-regulated properties. That retreat is part of why the banks and private lenders below have been gaining share in New York multifamily.
8 Best Banks in New York for Commercial Real Estate Loans
1. M&T Bank
Buffalo-rooted M&T Bank is the workhorse of New York commercial banking, with branches across upstate and the New York City metro. It lends on construction, permanent, and government-assisted deals across its footprint, and its M&T Realty Capital subsidiary provides agency multifamily execution nationally as a Fannie Mae DUS, Freddie Mac Optigo, and FHA lender. It's also the state's dominant SBA machine: No. 1 among 7(a) lenders in its footprint by loan count in FY2025 and a national top-10 SBA lender for 17 straight years, with top rankings in the Buffalo and Syracuse SBA districts. Source: mtb.com
2. Dime Community Bank
Headquartered in Hauppauge on Long Island, with roots as Brooklyn's Dime Savings Bank of Williamsburgh, Dime is a longtime New York multifamily and mixed-use specialist. Its published program covers 5+ unit multifamily and mixed-use property with loans up to $15 million, up to 75% LTV, 5-, 7-, 10-, and 15-year terms, and amortization up to 30 years, plus commercial mortgages and non-owner-occupied CRE with local approval. Source: dime.com
3. Flushing Bank
Flushing Bank is a New York-focused community bank serving the NYC metropolitan area, lending on multifamily (5+ units), multifamily mixed-use buildings that combine apartments with store or office space, and non-owner-occupied commercial real estate, alongside owner-occupied commercial mortgages for operating businesses — with fixed and adjustable-rate options for purchase or refinance. For the classic New York asset — the apartment building with retail below — this is a native product, not an accommodation. Source: flushingbank.com
4. NBT Bank
NBT has served upstate New York for over 165 years from its Norwich roots, now operating across seven Northeast states, and recently expanded into Western New York through its combination with Evans Bank. It writes commercial mortgages to purchase, refinance, expand, or improve commercial property, and is an SBA Preferred Lender with streamlined in-house approval. For deals in upstate markets that money-center banks don't cover well, NBT is a natural first call. Source: nbtbank.com
5. Community Bank, N.A.
Community Bank, N.A. (Community Financial System) runs commercial banking across upstate New York, including Syracuse-area offices, with one of the broader published CRE product menus among community banks: on- and off-balance-sheet executions spanning bridge, construction, mezzanine, and permanent loans, plus joint-venture equity and credit-tenant-lease financing. Source: cbna.com
6. Valley Bank
Valley is a roughly $64 billion-asset regional bank with 230+ locations across New Jersey, New York, Florida, and beyond, and a heavy New York-metro CRE presence — a $31.4 billion CRE portfolio as of mid-2024. It has been actively managing that concentration (including a ~$925 million performing CRE loan sale to Brookfield in December 2024, with Valley retaining servicing), which in practice means it remains a large, active lender that is choosier about incremental CRE exposure. It also runs a dedicated SBA program. Source: valley.com
7. Webster Bank
Connecticut-rooted Webster Bank runs an institutional CRE platform with New York banking centers, originating facilities between $15 million and $150 million with three-to-five-year terms across multifamily, industrial, retail, medical office, and student housing — in permanent, construction, interim-bridge, note-on-note, and revolver structures — for private equity firms, debt funds, REITs, family offices, and high-net-worth developers. A separate commercial mortgage program covers owner-occupied and smaller investment property. Source: websterbank.com
8. Provident Bank
New Jersey-based Provident serves New Jersey, New York City, and Pennsylvania, and has been deliberately building its New York CRE business — hiring a Long Island CRE team from the former Signature Bank and a regional director for metro New Jersey/New York. It writes commercial real estate and construction loans at fixed and floating rates with terms up to 25 years published. The Signature diaspora point matters: teams that spent decades underwriting NYC deals now sit inside a bank actively courting them. Source: provident.bank
5 Best Private and Bridge Lenders in New York
New York has the deepest private CRE credit bench in the country. When speed, structure, or story keeps a deal out of the banks, these lenders are where it gets done — our guide to commercial bridge lenders covers how to evaluate them.
1. Madison Realty Capital
Manhattan-based Madison Realty Capital has closed more than $22 billion in transactions, lending on construction, bridge, note purchases, and lender finance across major U.S. metros with deep New York activity — a recent example is a $140 million construction takeout on a 463-unit multifamily high-rise in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. It closed a $2.04 billion U.S.-focused real estate debt fund in 2024. Institutional scale, bespoke structures. Source: madisonrealtycapital.com
2. S3 Capital
S3 Capital, wholly owned by Spruce Capital Partners, was built in 2013 specifically for New York middle-market construction lending and is among the most active bridge and construction lenders in the city, with expansion into Charlotte, Nashville, and South Florida. It runs two tracks — small-balance loans of $1–20 million and large-balance loans of $20–250 million — and has originated over 900 loans totaling more than $9.9 billion since inception, including a record $2.62 billion across 137 loans in 2025. Notable recent work includes a $102 million construction loan for a Midtown Manhattan office-to-residential conversion. Source: s3cap.com
3. Emerald Creek Capital
Manhattan-based Emerald Creek has provided first-mortgage bridge loans since 2009 — over 550 loans and $3.5 billion across 29 states, with continuous New York activity: a $37 million bridge loan on four Chelsea/Midtown West development sites and a $52 million construction loan for a 19-story Midtown East condominium among recent deals. Built for time-sensitive and complex situations that fall outside bank regulatory constraints. Source: emeraldcreekcapital.com
4. W Financial
W Financial has spent 23+ years making time-sensitive commercial bridge loans "at the speed of New York" — $1 million to more than $50 million, over $2.6 billion closed — on investment, income-producing, and owner-occupied property, structured to be exited by sale or bank refinance. The classic use case: a hard closing deadline a bank can't meet. Source: w-financial.com
5. ACRES Capital
Long Island-based ACRES Capital, founded in 2013, is a middle-market lender for bridge (typically 3–5 year terms), construction, adaptive reuse, and predevelopment deals across multifamily, office, retail, industrial, and land, lending nationwide in primary and secondary markets. It externally manages NYSE-listed ACRES Commercial Realty Corp. Source: acrescap.com
How to Choose a New York Commercial Real Estate Lender
- Model the mortgage recording tax first. On NYC commercial mortgages of $500,000+ it's 2.80% of the loan — and whether a lender cooperates with CEMA structures on a refinance can be worth six figures. Ask on the first call.
- Match the borough to the bank. Dime and Flushing are native to the city's multifamily/mixed-use stock; NBT and Community Bank, N.A. know upstate markets the money-center banks don't price well; M&T covers both.
- Rent regulation changes the lender list. Since the 2019 rent law and the NYCB/Flagstar retreat, rent-stabilized buildings trade and finance differently — expect more conservative leverage and fewer eager lenders than for free-market assets.
- Owner-occupied unlocks SBA. If your business occupies the majority of the building, M&T's and NBT's SBA programs offer leverage conventional CRE loans won't match.
- Speed has a market price. New York's private lenders close in weeks at spreads banks won't touch — the right trade when a deadline binds, the wrong one when it doesn't.
Whoever you shortlist, send a complete commercial loan package — rent roll, T-12, sponsor financials — because New York underwriters see more deal flow than anyone and triage accordingly.
Find the Right New York Lender for Your Deal
This guide is a starting point, not a map of the whole market — New York has more active CRE lenders than any state, and the right one depends on your asset, submarket, leverage, and timeline. Lev is an AI platform that matches commercial real estate deals to the lenders that actually fit them, so you compare real options instead of working down a cold-call list.
Start for free and see which lenders fit your New York deal.
