Question 1

Which commercial property types actually transact in San Marcos, and why does a bridge get used?

Accepted Answer

Purpose-built student housing and the medical, retail and housing space feeding Texas State's own construction cycle are the two categories with a real local logic for bridge debt here. San Marcos permitted zero units in structures of five or more in 2025, with all 12 months reported, the same year the university posted its largest enrollment on record. That gap is the structural argument for bridging an existing built asset toward stabilization rather than underwriting a merchant build into a market with almost no new supply competing for it. Student housing itself is not a by-right use: it needs a Conditional Use Permit from City Council, which is a political and entitlement risk a bridge lender has to price, not just a construction risk. See the Texas bridge and foreclosure rules for structure. No metro-level commercial vacancy, rent or cap-rate data was sourced for San Marcos, so size the deal on the asset and the entitlement, not on a published market rate.

Question 2

What is the specific entitlement risk on a San Marcos student housing bridge?

Accepted Answer

Purpose-built student housing needs a Conditional Use Permit from City Council on a Planning and Zoning recommendation, and if P&Z recommends denial the CUP only takes effect on a three-quarters supermajority vote of the full Council. The city also requires the operator to submit its form lease for written city approval before signing any pre-certificate-of-occupancy lease. A recent case shows how negotiated the outcome can be: on June 23, 2026, Council approved a seven-story purpose-built student housing project 5-2, with conditions attached, including 0.6 parking spaces per bedroom, a requirement to offer conventional leases alongside rent-by-the-bedroom, and a covenant not to sell to a non-tax-paying entity, including the university itself, for 12 years. A bridge on an unentitled student housing site is underwriting a council vote, not just a construction budget.

Question 3

Is San Marcos commercial real estate seasonal the way a Hill Country tourism market is?

Accepted Answer

No. The seasonality here is academic, not a tourist calendar. Hays County recreation employment runs essentially flat all year, from 762 to 843 jobs in 2025, while private educational services employment rises into the fall term. That is the opposite pattern from a corridor market whose recreation and hospitality economy swings with summer tourism. An asset refinancing out of a bridge in July is presenting a leasing trough tied to the academic calendar, not a peak, and the takeout term should be sized to land after the fall term fills, not on a generic twelve-month average.

Question 4

Why bridge an existing San Marcos multifamily or mixed-use asset instead of financing new construction?

Accepted Answer

Because almost nothing new is being built to compete with it. San Marcos permitted zero units in structures of five or more apartments in 2025, with all 12 months reported, in the same year Texas State's fall 2025 enrollment reached 44,596 students, up 9.6% over the prior record. A bridge on an already-built asset is financing into that supply gap directly. New multifamily construction here also carries its own front-loaded cost: an Edwards Aquifer Protection Plan can take up to 30 days of administrative review plus 90 days of technical review at TCEQ before site work starts, on top of the city's own permitting, which is carry a ground-up borrower has to finance before a bridge borrower on an existing asset ever sees.

Question 5

How much equity do I need for a San Marcos area CRE bridge deal?

Accepted Answer

About a quarter of value, plus closing costs. Leverage runs up to 75% LTV, so on a $4,000,000 valuation that is up to $3,000,000 from us and $1,000,000 from you (4,000,000 x 75% = 3,000,000). On a student housing asset, that equity has to sit behind an entitlement, not just a rent roll: a City Council CUP vote, a city-approved form lease, and, on a comparable recent project, a 12-year covenant against selling to the university. Subject to underwriting.

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