Your Commercial Loan Is Maturing: 2026 Refinance Options

Roughly a fifth of all outstanding commercial mortgages have been coming due each year since 2025 — close to a trillion dollars annually — and 2026 is another heavy maturity year. If your commercial loan is maturing, here’s how to think through the refinance.

Why so many commercial loans are maturing at once

A huge volume of commercial debt was originated in the low-rate years of 2020–2022, much of it on 3–5 year terms. When rates jumped, many owners took extensions instead of refinancing — which pushed the maturities forward rather than resolving them. The industry calls it the “maturity wall,” and it’s now rolling through 2026. Hotels, office, and industrial carry the heaviest shares of loans coming due, but every property type is affected.

Your position depends on one question: is the property stabilized?

Permanent lenders underwrite today’s numbers — occupancy, rent roll, operating income. So the decision tree is simple:

Scenario 1: The property is stabilized and cash-flowing

Go straight to permanent financing. For 5+ unit apartment and mixed-use buildings, a multifamily DSCR loan qualifies on the rent roll — up to ~75% LTV, loan amounts to $3.5M, no personal tax returns driving the file. For other commercial property types, our small-balance commercial programs run ~$200K to $10M+ with documentation tiers from full-doc to streamlined. Payoff of maturing debt is a standard rate/term refinance.

Scenario 2: The property isn’t ready — vacancy, rolling leases, mid-renovation

This is the classic 2026 problem: the loan matures before the business plan finishes. A commercial bridge loan retires the maturing debt and buys 6–24 months of interest-only runway to finish lease-up or renovations — then exits into a permanent loan once the numbers support it. Leverage runs up to ~80% of as-is value on select property types, with loan amounts from ~$300K to $10M+.

Scenario 3: The numbers changed — value or income is down from origination

If today’s value won’t support a full payoff at permanent leverage, the earlier you know, the more options exist: sub-1.0 DSCR programs for buildings with rents still catching up, bridge structures that carry the gap, or a capital-stack solution through mezzanine or preferred equity. What kills deals isn’t the shortfall — it’s discovering it 30 days before maturity.

The timeline that keeps your options open

• 6+ months out: pull the loan documents, confirm the maturity date and any extension options, and get a realistic read on value and income.
• 90–120 days out: start the refinance. Permanent commercial loans need time for appraisal, title, and underwriting.
• 60 days out: if the permanent path isn’t certain, line up the bridge in parallel — it can close in weeks and prevents a default or forced sale.
• At maturity: if you’re here without a plan, call anyway. Payoff demands and forbearance negotiations still leave room to move — but less of it.

Why owners bring maturing loans to us

Because we run both sides of the timeline. The bridge and the permanent take-out are structured together at one desk — across a platform of 150+ programs — so you’re not solving the same problem twice with two lenders. Start at our commercial property loans hub, or send the scenario directly.