Loans for industrial and warehouse property

The short version

Building profile	Best first call	Also price
Modern bulk or distribution, long leases, strong tenants	Life company	CMBS conduit, bank
One rated tenant on a long absolute net lease	Credit tenant lease	Life company
Older or smaller local warehouse	Bank, credit union	DSCR loan
Owner-user (your business uses it)	Owner-occupied commercial mortgage	SBA 504
Vacant, leasing up, or a repositioning	Bridge, debt fund	Bank with a leasing holdback
Ground-up or speculative development	Construction loan	Debt fund
Large portfolio	SASB, CMBS	Life company
Small bay, mixed office and warehouse	See flex

Programs ranked for a stabilized warehouse

Rank	Program	Wins when	Loses when
1	Life company	Modern building, good location, moderate leverage; often the lowest fixed rate	Older, functionally obsolete or tertiary-market buildings
2	Bank	Local sponsors, smaller buildings, flexible prepayment	Recourse, shorter fixed period
3	CMBS conduit	Non-recourse, interest-only, secondary markets	Defeasance; servicer rules
4	Credit union	Smaller buildings, relationship pricing	Size caps
5	Credit tenant lease	Rated single tenant, long lease	Everything else
6	DSCR loan	Small buildings, speed	Rate and fees

What industrial underwriters check

• Functional fit. Clear height, column spacing, loading docks and doors, truck court depth, trailer parking, sprinklers and power. A building that fails today’s tenant specs is underwritten at a lower rent and a higher vacancy.
• Office finish share. A warehouse with a large office component behaves like flex and is underwritten that way.
• Tenant credit and lease term. Single-tenant buildings are sized on the tenant and on dark value; multi-tenant buildings on the rollover schedule.
• Lease type. Most industrial leases are net. Lenders confirm the tenant pays taxes, insurance and maintenance, and check who replaces the roof.
• Environmental. Industrial sites get the closest environmental review of any type. Expect a Phase I under ASTM E1527-21 is the Phase I standard EPA recognizes for all appropriate inquiries; E1527-13 could be used only until February 13, 2024, and a Phase II if the history includes manufacturing, fuel storage or chemicals.
• Location and access. Distance to highways, ports, rail and labor pools. Infill sites with scarce land get better terms.
• Specialized uses. Cold storage, data-heavy power loads and heavy manufacturing narrow the lender pool.

Sizing example (illustration)

An illustration, not a quote. A 120,000 square foot warehouse valued at $16,600,000 with $1,080,000 of NOI (a 6.5% cap rate). Two lenders, with assumed tests (not program limits):

Test	Life company: 60%, 1.30x, 25-year, illustrative 6.40%	Bank: 70%, 1.25x, 25-year, illustrative 6.85%
LTV	$9,960,000	$11,620,000
Debt service the NOI supports	$1,080,000 / 1.30 = $830,800	$1,080,000 / 1.25 = $864,000
Loan constant	8.03%	8.37%
DSCR test	$10,349,000	$10,323,000
Loan	$9,960,000 (LTV binds)	$10,323,000 (DSCR binds)

The bank lends about $360,000 more, but at a higher rate, usually with a personal guarantee and a shorter fixed period. The life company loan is smaller, cheaper and non-recourse. On a long hold the life company usually wins; on a short hold or a value-add plan the bank does.

Market reading

Measure	Reading
Industrial spread, permanent loans at 60 to 65% LTV (CRED iQ, March 31, 2026)	162 bps1
Multifamily spread, same basis	154 bps1
CMBS industrial delinquency (Trepp, September 2026)	1.14%2
Originations by property type, Q2 2026 versus Q1 (MBA)	Industrial up 38%, office up 23%, multifamily up 15%, retail up 3%, hotel down 36%, health care down 50% from Q1 20264
Share of each property type’s balances maturing in 2026 (MBA)	Hotel 30%, industrial 23%, office 17%, health care 15%, multifamily 13%5
Cap rates (CBRE, H1 2026)	CBRE's H1 2026 survey found the all-property average cap rate essentially flat, with the most compression in neighborhood retail, then hotel and industrial6

A large share of industrial loans mature in 2026, so refinance demand is high and lenders are competing for the well-leased ones. A building with a strong rent roll should get several quotes.

Programs to avoid

• Agency, FHA and DSCR multifamily programs. Not eligible.
• Bridge debt on a leased, stabilized warehouse. You pay floating-rate bridge pricing for flexibility you do not need.
• CTL on a short or unrated lease. The structure only works with a rated tenant and enough lease term to amortize.