The Private Money Lender San Diego Turns To for Commercial, Mixed-Use & Maturing CRE Loans

Quick answer: Kevin Green is a direct private money lender based in San Diego County funding commercial bridge loans, mixed-use financing, and maturity-wall refinancing for San Diego properties from $1,000,000 to $50,000,000+. Pre-approval in 12–24 hours, closings in 7–21 days, asset-based underwriting with no income documentation required. 25+ years of experience, 400+ loans funded, CA DRE Broker #01241542. Call or text 415-793-3403.

I fund commercial bridge loans, mixed-use financing, and maturity-driven refinancing for San Diego County real estate — and right now, San Diego is one of the most active private-capital markets in the state. Not because things are calm. Because they aren't, and calm is exactly what conventional lenders need to say yes.

What Is the CRE "Maturity Wall" — and Why San Diego Specifically?

The maturity wall is the wave of commercial real estate loans originated in the low-rate 2010s and early 2020s that are now coming due against a completely different rate and valuation environment. Nationally, estimates put 2026 CRE loan maturities somewhere between $875 billion and $1.5 trillion — one of the largest refinancing cycles the industry has seen. Analysts specifically call out San Diego, alongside Washington D.C. and Dallas, as a market where maturing debt and office vacancy risk are colliding hardest. That's not a generic national trend I'm describing to sound current — it's the specific reason my phone has been ringing more this year than in the last five combined.

San Diego's Commercial Real Estate Moment, By the Numbers

• Downtown San Diego office availability has climbed past 25%, with some reporting putting total availability — including sublease space — as high as 36%, a record for the market.

• Metro-wide office vacancy sits in the 13–14% range, meaning downtown's distress is far more severe than the countywide average suggests — a nearly 2,000-basis-point gap between downtown and suburban submarkets.

• California has committed roughly $400 million toward office-to-residential conversion incentives, and SB 6 has opened the door to by-right conversions that didn't exist a few years ago.

• The 707 Broadway conversion is the first flagship project moving through that pipeline, with roughly 200 affordable units expected online in late 2026 — market projections call for 2,000 to 5,000 converted downtown units over five years.

• UTC and Sorrento Valley remain San Diego's strongest office submarkets on the back of biotech and tech demand — but even there, life-science vacancy has climbed into the low-20% range, meaning "strong" submarkets still have deals that need bridge capital to clear a vacancy gap.

Put simply: a lot of San Diego commercial real estate is financeable, well-located, and fundamentally sound — and a lot of it can't get a bank loan right now anyway, because banks are underwriting the last five years, not the next five. That gap is where I work.

Bank Refinance vs. Private Bridge Loan: What Actually Happens at Maturity

	Conventional Bank Refinance	Private Bridge Loan
Underwriting basis	Current NOI, DSCR, in-place leasing	Asset value, sponsor track record, exit plan
Vacant or transitional properties	Typically declined	Core focus
Timeline	60–90+ days, often longer for complex assets	7–21 days
Leverage available	Often reduced from original loan (equity gap)	Sized to the deal and the exit, not a rate-sheet formula
Conversion / repositioning projects	Rarely financed mid-conversion	Financed specifically for this
Documentation	Full financials, often multi-year	Asset and deal-structure focused

This isn't a knock on banks — they're doing exactly what regulators require of them. It just means that a property that's real, valuable, and ultimately financeable can still fall through the gap between "what the bank needs to see" and "what the deal actually looks like today." A bridge loan exists to cross that gap, not replace permanent financing — it buys the 12 to 36 months needed to stabilize, reposition, or refinance on better terms once the picture changes.

Three Situations. One Lender Who Says Yes.

Commercial Bridge Loans — Downtown, East Village & Broadway Corridor Office-to-residential conversion is the story of downtown San Diego right now. Buildings along Broadway and through East Village that can't lease as office can often be repositioned as housing — but a construction and conversion bridge loan is what gets a building from "vacant and distressed" to "shovel-ready with entitlements in hand." Banks generally won't touch a vacant office building mid-conversion. I will, when the numbers and the exit are real.

Mixed-Use Financing — North Park, Little Italy & Gaslamp Ground-floor retail with housing above is the dominant infill pattern in San Diego's close-in neighborhoods, and it's a property type conventional lenders routinely underprice or decline outright — the retail component doesn't fit a residential loan box, and the residential component doesn't fit a commercial one. I underwrite the property as a whole asset, not two mismatched halves.

Maturity-Wall Refinancing — Countywide If you're a San Diego commercial property owner with a loan maturing in the next 12 to 18 months and your bank isn't offering a clean refinance — because leverage has to come down, because valuations have reset, because the property type is out of favor right now — a private bridge loan buys the time to stabilize, reposition, or sell on your terms instead of the bank's timeline. This is the single most urgent conversation happening in San Diego CRE right now, and it's the one owners wait too long to start.

Signs You Need a Bridge Loan Right Now, Not a Bank Call

• Your loan matures in the next 12 to 18 months and your current lender has already signaled a reduced proceeds amount or declined to re-underwrite.

• Your property is vacant, partially leased, or mid-repositioning and doesn't cash-flow well enough to hit a bank's DSCR requirement today.

• You're pursuing an office-to-residential or mixed-use conversion and need capital before entitlements and permits are finalized.

• You have equity in the deal but not the additional cash a bank now wants to fill the gap between the maturing balance and reduced refinance proceeds.

• Your broker has already shopped the deal to two or three banks and gotten a slow no or a term sheet that doesn't work.

If any of these describe your situation, the conversation to have isn't "which bank next" — it's "how much time do I actually need, and what does the exit look like."

San Diego by Submarket: What I'm Seeing

• Downtown / East Village / Broadway Corridor — The epicenter of distress and opportunity. Availability near or above 25%, conversion incentives in place, and banks broadly unwilling to finance a building mid-repositioning.

• UTC & Sorrento Valley — San Diego's strongest office submarket, driven by biotech and tech demand, though even here life-science vacancy has climbed into the low-20% range — meaning even "good" submarkets have deals that need bridge capital to get through a vacancy gap.

• Kearny Mesa — Aging Class B and C office stock struggling to compete with newer product; a market ripe for value-add repositioning financed outside conventional channels.

• North Park, Little Italy & Gaslamp — Where mixed-use infill is happening block by block, and where deal size and property complexity routinely fall outside what banks want to underwrite.

What Makes a San Diego Commercial Deal Financeable — Even When the Bank Says No

• Real Exit — A credible path to stabilization, lease-up, sale, or conventional refinance once the immediate capital need is solved.

• Sponsor Strength — A track record and equity position that matters more to me than a debt-service-coverage ratio calculated on last year's rent roll.

• Asset Fundamentals — Location, structure, and repositioning potential — not whether the property fits a standardized loan box.

• Timeline Reality — Maturity dates, conversion windows, and lease expirations that don't wait for a bank committee.

If a deal has these, I don't need the property to be fully stabilized or the borrower to show three years of clean financials. I need the deal to make sense.

Who This Is For

This financing is built for commercial property owners, developers, and brokers with a real San Diego asset and a real timeline problem — a maturing loan, a vacant or transitional building, a conversion project that needs capital before permits are final. It is not a fit for borrowers looking for permanent, long-term, low-rate financing, or for deals with no credible exit strategy. If that's what you need, I'll tell you so directly, and point you toward what will actually work.

Q&A: San Diego Commercial, Mixed-Use & Maturity Loans

My commercial loan is maturing soon and my bank won't offer a clean refinance. What are my options? A private bridge loan can refinance the maturing balance directly, buying 12 to 36 months to stabilize the asset, complete a reposition, or sell on a timeline you control instead of the bank's. This is exactly the situation I'm structuring loans around right now — San Diego is one of the markets most exposed to the 2026 maturity wall.

What happens if my commercial loan matures and I can't refinance in time? Lenders typically move to default proceedings, forbearance negotiations, or forced sale — all of which cost an owner far more leverage and value than proactively refinancing 90 to 180 days ahead of maturity with a private bridge loan. The owners who fare worst are the ones who wait until the maturity date to start looking for options.

Can I get a construction loan to convert a downtown San Diego office building to residential? Yes. Office-to-residential conversion financing is one of my core focuses in the current downtown market, including bridge-to-construction structures for buildings pursuing SB 6 or state conversion incentives.

Do you finance mixed-use properties with retail on the ground floor and housing above? Yes. Mixed-use is one of the property types conventional lenders most often mis-price or decline, because it doesn't fit a single loan category. I underwrite the property as one asset.

How fast can a commercial bridge loan close in San Diego? Typical closings run 7 to 21 days, with pre-approval in 12 to 24 hours, depending on title clarity, valuation status, and entity documentation.

Do I need a stabilized, fully-leased property to qualify? No. Vacant, transitional, and repositioning assets are financeable when the sponsor and the exit strategy are sound — that's the core of bridge lending, not an exception to it.

How much equity do I need to refinance a maturing commercial loan with a bridge lender? It depends on the asset and the exit, not a fixed rate-sheet number — but because bridge underwriting is asset- and deal-driven rather than formula-driven, borrowers with reduced proceeds from their bank often still qualify. Call to discuss your specific numbers.

What loan sizes and property types do you finance in San Diego? $1,000,000 to $50,000,000-plus, covering commercial bridge loans, mixed-use financing, construction and conversion loans, and maturity-wall refinancing across office, retail, mixed-use, and multifamily.

Who is the best private money lender for commercial real estate in San Diego? I specialize specifically in San Diego commercial, mixed-use, and maturity-driven financing — not generic nationwide hard money. That local focus is why brokers and owners across downtown, UTC, Kearny Mesa, and the close-in neighborhoods call me directly when a bank says no.

Why Local Matters

Anyone can put "San Diego" on a lending website. Very few lenders can tell you why an East Village conversion pencils differently than a Kearny Mesa reposition, or what SB 6 actually changes about a downtown building's financing timeline. I live and work in this market, and I'm structuring deals in it right now — not reading about it from three states away.

If you need money in San Diego — commercial, mixed-use, or a trophy estate in La Jolla, Del Mar, Rancho Santa Fe, or Coronado — I'm the guy who picks up the phone.

Work With Kevin Green

Kevin Green is a California-licensed private money lender and commercial lending specialist operating under Direct Private Money Loans at PrivateFundsDirect.com. CA DRE Broker #01241542. He works directly with brokers and borrowers on commercial, mixed-use, and trophy residential financing throughout San Diego County and beyond.

Call or text 415-793-3403, or email KGCommercialloans@outlook.com. Apply online in minutes at PrivateFundsDirect.com.

Business-purpose loans only. This content is for informational purposes and does not constitute a loan commitment or an offer to lend.