CRE Bridge in Fort Myers

Two distinct plays, not one generic commercial market. The first is rebuild-era repositioning: Hurricane Ian destroyed an estimated 900 structures and damaged another 2,200 on Fort Myers Beach alone, out of at least 52,514 impacted structures across Lee County, so retail, hospitality and mixed-use buildings along the coast are still being rebuilt, converted or repositioned four years later. The second is Cape Coral's construction economy, where the city reports it is only about 60% built out and that $1.7 billion was invested in residential and commercial construction in 2025 across 3,578 issued certificates of occupancy, with 75% of new development expected in North Cape Coral. We have not found a published metro-level commercial vacancy, absorption or cap-rate figure for Lee County, so we are not going to hand you one. Bring us the specific asset and comps, and we underwrite the deal, not a market average. See the CRE bridge program for structure.

Yes, the mechanics are structural, not residential-only. Under the National Flood Insurance Program, any structure in a Special Flood Hazard Area whose repair or improvement cost reaches 50% of the structure's market value has to be brought up to current flood elevation and Florida Building Code requirements, in practice elevate or demolish, and the test runs against the building's value, not the land. Cape Coral removed the 5-year cumulative lookback from that calculation under Ordinance 96-22 in November 2022, so older pre-Ian work no longer stacks toward the threshold there, but FEMA has audited Lee County's enforcement of the rule since 2024, and its 2024 action put the county's 25% flood-insurance discount at risk. We have not found a published resolution of that action, so do not price a deal on the discount surviving. Get an independent appraisal on the structure rather than leaning on the tax-assessed value, and expect a lender to want a clean permit file before closing a repositioning loan on damaged coastal commercial stock.

Because Florida's foreclosure remedy runs through the circuit court, and that is materially slower than a non-judicial state. The national average time from foreclosure start to completion was 563 days in the second quarter of 2026, the lowest since 2013, while Texas, a non-judicial state, was the fastest in the country at 155 days. There is no published Florida-specific average to quote, but the judicial process is slower than Texas by a wide margin, and that gap is priced into Florida bridge and hard-money terms rather than hidden in them. Doc stamps add to the closing math: 70 cents per $100 on the deed and 35 cents per $100 on the note, on top of the mortgage recording, so a partner buyout or refinance structured through a deed transfer carries a real, quantifiable cost that a Texas deal does not.

Less than the ground-zero reputation suggests, but flood is where the real coastal cost sits. The only county-level pricing available is residential, so treat it as a read on wind exposure rather than a commercial quote: as of March 2026 the average Lee County homeowners premium including wind was $3,576, close to Hillsborough's $3,525 and well below Collier's $5,534 or Miami-Dade's roughly $5,975. The wind portion of that Lee premium runs about $1,457 a year on the average policy; flood is a separate policy on top of it and is where coastal exposure really lives. Statewide, the average homeowners premium including wind fell in 51 of 67 Florida counties between the regulator's January and July 2026 reports. We have not found a Lee County-specific commercial premium or Citizens concentration figure, so get a bindable quote on the actual parcel before you size the loan.

Build the schedule off the statutory backstop, because there is no local benchmark to lean on instead. Florida Statutes section 553.792 requires a local government to approve, approve with conditions, or deny a complete application within 30 business days for a typical single-family scope and 60 business days for commercial under 25,000 square feet and for site plans, with fees dropping 10% for each business day of delay. The statute we can cite does not set a clock for commercial work above that size. We have not found observed, actual review times for Cape Coral or Lee County permitting, and the county's impact fee schedule was not available in this research pass, so do not assume the statutory clock is the real-world clock. Size the term with room on top of the statute rather than the minimum: our bridge runs up to 24 to 36 months for exactly that reason.

About a quarter of value, whether you are buying or pulling cash out. Max leverage is up to 75% LTV, on terms up to 24 to 36 months, interest-only, and up to $10 million. On a $2,000,000 Fort Myers asset that is up to $1,500,000 from us and $500,000 from you (2,000,000 x 75% = 1,500,000). On a cash-out, the same cap decides what comes back to you against the equity already in the building. Doc stamps of 70 cents per $100 on the deed and 35 cents per $100 on the note sit outside the loan, so carry them in your closing math. Subject to underwriting.

Probably, because the asset carries the file. There is no minimum credit score on a commercial bridge loan, and no hard credit pull to start. We do run credit, but on an asset-based loan it counts for far less than it would at a bank, and weaker credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline. There are no W-2s or tax returns in the file either: the property and the equity qualify the deal. That matters in a metro where a storm-damaged building's permit history and flood-zone status often say more about the risk than the borrower's last two years do. Subject to underwriting.