Commercial bridge loans for San Diego's defense-anchored submarkets.
We fund commercial bridge loans up to $10M, up to 75% loan-to-value, on interest-only terms of 24 to 36 months, with cash-out available. San Diego's defense contractor base fills flex, R&D and secure-office product around Point Loma, Miramar, Kearny Mesa and Sorrento Valley, and that tenant demand is what a bridge deal here should be underwritten against. Business-purpose only, and every structure is set in underwriting.
Typical figures, subject to underwriting and market conditions. Not a commitment to lend.
How it works
Use bridge capital to reposition an asset, buy out a partner, or stabilize before a refinance. We move quickly on commercial deals that banks find too time-sensitive. When the asset is stabilized, we refinance you out of the bridge and into long-term permanent debt, which we also place in house, so you have a clear exit from day one.
What's actually filling San Diego's commercial and flex space right now?
Defense contracting, at a scale most out-of-market lenders underestimate. San Diego companies obligated $19.8 billion in FY2025 defense contract dollars across more than 2,000 firms, and that spending sits alongside a smaller biotech and telecom cluster in the same submarkets. That base is what fills flex, R&D and secure-office product around Point Loma, Miramar, Kearny Mesa and Sorrento Valley. Underwrite the tenant roster in those corridors against that demand, not against a generic office or industrial thesis.
Is San Diego's defense economy recession-proof enough to anchor a CRE underwrite?
It's the metro's largest single anchor, but it isn't recession-proof and it isn't presently growing. Defense spending runs about a fifth of San Diego's gross regional product and labor force, with roughly 109,000 active-duty personnel and 45,000 military retirees in the county. FY2025 was a down year: total direct defense spending fell 3.0% and contracts and procurement fell 3.5% under a full-year continuing resolution. Size the tenant concentration honestly, as a large and durable anchor rather than an anchor that never contracts.
Does Proposition 13 reassessment change the tax carry on a San Diego commercial bridge deal?
Yes, and it resets at your purchase price, not the seller's. Every California purchase, commercial parcels included, is a reassessment event under Proposition 13: the assessed base is set at the price paid, then the base can rise by at most 2% a year afterward. In the City of San Diego, published FY2025-26 ad valorem rates by Tax Rate Area run from 1.03103% to 1.28214%, and the county issues a supplemental assessment covering the gap between the transfer date and the end of the fiscal year, so the reset lands mid-year outside the regular two-installment bill. Never underwrite a San Diego commercial acquisition off the seller's tax line or a listing's stated annual taxes; pull the parcel's TRA rate and apply it to your own purchase price.
If a San Diego commercial bridge loan needs to foreclose, how does the process work?
Non-judicial trustee sale, with a real trade-off on any deficiency. California forecloses through a trustee sale under Civil Code section 2924: the trustee first records a notice of default, and at least three months must pass before the notice of sale, which itself runs at least 20 more days, putting the statutory floor at roughly 111 to 120 days. A business-purpose loan on non-owner-occupied commercial property sits outside the Homeowner Bill of Rights, which by its own text reaches only owner-occupied residential loans. The trade-off: choosing the faster trustee sale route waives any deficiency claim against the borrower under Code of Civil Procedure section 580d, on any non-judicial sale. Judicial foreclosure preserves a deficiency claim but adds a lawsuit and a post-sale redemption period. Talk to your closing attorney about which track fits a specific file.
Does California's usury law limit rate and fee structure on a San Diego commercial bridge loan?
Not for a properly licensed or brokered business-purpose loan. California's constitutional usury cap under article XV would otherwise limit a business-purpose real estate loan to 10% a year or a Federal Reserve-linked floor, whichever is higher, but two exemptions cover the loans that actually get made: a California Financing Law licensee lending under its license, and a loan made or arranged by a licensed real estate broker under Civil Code section 1916.1. Unlike Texas, California's Financing Law reaches business-purpose real estate loans directly, so licensing status is not a formality here. This is background, not legal advice on a specific file.
What does the exit look like on a San Diego commercial sale, transfer-tax-wise?
Lighter than Los Angeles: San Diego runs the statewide base with no city add-on. California's statewide documentary transfer tax base is $1.10 per $1,000 of consideration, and San Diego County levies that base rate with no City of San Diego charter add-on on top of it, unlike Los Angeles, where Measure ULA layers a 4% to 5.5% tax on higher-value transfers. That add-on has not been confirmed against the San Diego Municipal Code, so have escrow confirm the current City schedule before you rely on the number. A county-level transfer tax measure has been under study by the Board of Supervisors, but no rate, threshold or effective date has been adopted, so build your exit pro forma on the current statewide base only.
How much equity do I need on a San Diego commercial bridge loan?
Plan on at least 25% of value. We lend up to 75% loan-to-value on interest-only terms of 24 to 36 months. On a $4,000,000 Kearny Mesa or Sorrento Valley building that is up to $3,000,000 from us and $1,000,000 from you (4,000,000 x 75% = 3,000,000). Cash-out is available inside the same ceiling on a property you already own. Underwrite your tax carry off your own purchase price, not the seller's, since a California purchase resets the assessed base under Proposition 13. Subject to underwriting.
Do you check credit on a San Diego commercial bridge deal?
We run credit, and there is no minimum score on this program. A bridge loan is asset-based: the property, the equity and the exit carry the file, and credit weighs far less than it would at a bank. Weaker credit is usually answered with lower leverage rather than a decline, so a file may come in under the 75% LTV ceiling instead of at it. There is no hard credit pull to start. Subject to underwriting.
What is the largest commercial bridge loan you will write in San Diego?
Up to $10,000,000. That covers most of the flex, R&D and secure-office product that trades around Point Loma, Miramar, Kearny Mesa and Sorrento Valley, where the county's defense contracting base fills space. Sizing is the lower of that ceiling and 75% LTV, on an interest-only term of up to 24 to 36 months, purchase or cash-out. Bring the tenant roster and the exit and we will size it against the rent, not a generic office thesis. Subject to underwriting.
Local rules move. Every tax rate, fee, ordinance and market figure here comes from a primary source and carries the date we read it, and we correct them as the rules change. Where a number is mid-change or we could not verify it, we say so rather than guess. Before you commit a budget, confirm anything that drives it with the city or county, and talk to your attorney or CPA on questions of law or tax.
Published by USA Mortgage Funding, LLC, NMLS #152588. Researched from primary sources by our team, drafted with AI assistance, and every figure checked against its source before publishing. Where an answer rests on a public record, that record is linked under it. Figures read on 2026-08-15.
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