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Texas has the largest commercial construction pipeline in the United States, which means it also has the largest supply of buildings that are finished but not yet earning. That is the single most common reason a Texas borrower needs bridge financing — and it is a situation conventional lenders are structurally unable to fund, because there is no stabilised income to underwrite. Searching for the best bridge loan lenders in Texas, though, mostly returns residential fix-and-flip lenders and consumer bridge products aimed at homebuyers.
This guide covers commercial bridge financing in Texas — industrial, retail, multifamily, hospitality and mixed-use, generally $1 million and up.
Bridge Loan or Hard Money Loan: Which Do You Actually Need in Texas?
You are a homeowner buying before you sell. Several lenders ranking for this search are consumer and residential bridge providers — “unlock home equity to buy,” “for homebuyers.” That is a different product with different licensing, and nothing below applies to you.
You are flipping houses or building spec homes. Residential investor lenders are built for you. Little City Investments, FlipCo Financial, Easy Street Capital and Lima One Capital (minimum loan $75,000) all serve this market with speed and small minimums a commercial lender cannot match.
You own or are buying income-producing Texas commercial property — a newly delivered industrial building in lease-up, a retail centre mid-repositioning, a hotel carrying a renovation, an asset repriced by a tax reassessment — and you need short-term capital until it supports permanent debt. That is this page.
For how the flavours of private capital differ, see our guide to hard money versus private money lenders.
What Texas Borrowers Use Commercial Bridge Financing For
- Lease-up on newly delivered space. The dominant Texas use case. Dallas–Fort Worth leads the country in industrial space under construction and Houston has climbed to second, which produces a steady stream of buildings that are complete, partially leased, and unfinanceable conventionally until occupancy arrives.
- Property-tax reassessment repricing. Texas funds government heavily through property tax, and a sale typically triggers reassessment at the new purchase price. The tax line in the seller’s operating statement understates the buyer’s actual expense, which compresses NOI and DSCR — sometimes enough to break a permanent loan. Bridge capital carries the asset while the reassessment is absorbed or appealed.
- Acquisition on a deadline — 1031 windows and competitive contracts.
- Hotel PIP and renovation, funded then refinanced once the property re-stabilises.
- Adaptive reuse in the Dallas and Houston urban cores, where risk sits in execution rather than the rent roll.
What to Look For in a Texas Bridge Lender
- Commercial or residential? In Texas this question does the most work, because the search results are dominated by fix-and-flip lenders. Ask what share of the book is income-producing commercial property.
- How does the lender underwrite the tax reassessment? If the answer is “we use the current tax bill,” expect your proceeds to be cut late in diligence. Competent Texas lenders underwrite the reassessed figure from the start.
- Lender, broker or marketplace? The most frequently ranking domain in Texas hard-money search is a lead marketplace, not a lender.
- What is the range? Texas bridge ranges run from small-balance residential up to institutional CRE. Being outside a lender’s band wastes weeks.
- How is the loan funded? A balance-sheet lender or discretionary fund controls its own decision. Federal Reserve research documents how deposit-funded institutions are constrained in commercial real estate lending capacity, which is why lease-up deals leave the banking system.
Best Bridge Loan Lenders in Texas
1. AVANA Capital
AVANA Capital is a direct commercial real estate lender — not a broker or a marketplace — with $1.7 billion in loans closed over 23+ years and lending coverage in all 50 states. Its bridge program is backed by a joint venture with Oaktree Capital, meaning institutional capital behind the loan rather than a pooled private fund.
Loans run $1 million to $30 million across bridge, construction and permanent debt, with the deepest experience in hospitality and industrial — the two property types that dominate Texas bridge demand. There is no Texas footprint, so Lubbock, McAllen and Texarkana reach the same credit team as Dallas, and out-of-state sponsor entities are routine files. AVANA-financed projects have supported 5,000+ jobs created in the USA.
Best fit: commercial bridge $5M–$30M, industrial lease-up, hospitality and PIP work, reassessment-repriced assets, secondary Texas markets.
2. C2R Capital
Based in Houston, C2R Capital is a private lender making asset-backed loans on commercial real estate — short-term first-lien bridge, development and mezzanine financing across property types, concentrated in Texas and the wider Sun Belt. It has closed a $100 million debt fund dedicated to short-term asset-backed bridge lending and reports over $250 million in closed loans across 12 states. Its process evaluates transaction fit within 72 hours.
Best fit: Texas commercial bridge and development deals wanting a discretionary-fund lender with genuine CRE focus and fast initial read. The most clearly commercial private lender in the Texas SERP.
3. Capital Fund 1
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Capital Fund 1 lends on both residential and commercial property, with a specific commercial bridge product. Loan amounts run up to $10,000,000, rates from roughly 7.99% to 11.99%, terms of 6 months to 2 years, often with no prepayment penalty, and it states funding of hard money bridge loans in 3–5 days.
Best fit: Texas deals up to $10 million needing speed, including commercial bridge — one of the few national hard-money lenders with a genuine commercial product rather than a residential-only book.
4. Capstone Capital
Capstone Capital is a Texas hard money lender serving real estate investors across the state, appearing consistently in Texas hard-money search results.
Best fit: Texas investor deals. Confirm current loan ranges, leverage and whether commercial income-producing property is in appetite — its published parameters are thinner than the other lenders here.
5. Little City Investments
Little City Investments is a local Texas hard money lender positioning on local knowledge and direct decision-making, weighted toward residential investment property.
Best fit: smaller residential investment deals in its local Texas markets. Included because it ranks prominently for Texas hard-money searches — but if you own commercial property, it is not the fit.
Bridge Loan Rates, Points and Terms in Texas
| Commercial bridge (institutional) | Hard money / private | Conventional permanent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | Index + spread; below hard money | Roughly 8%–14% | Lowest of the three |
| Points | 1–2 typical | 2–4 common | 0–1 |
| Term | 12–36 months | 6 months–2 years | 5–25 years |
| Max LTV / LTC | Sized to loan-to-cost on transitional assets | Commonly 60%–70% of value | 65%–75% LTV |
| Speed | Days to weeks | 3–5 days advertised | 45–75 days |
| Best fit | Income-producing CRE, $1M+ | Small balance, residential | Stabilized, reassessed taxes absorbed |
The Texas-specific number to get right is property tax. Underwrite the reassessed figure, not the seller’s trailing bill. A lender that lets you submit on the old number is not doing you a favour — the correction arrives during diligence, and it lands on your proceeds.
How AVANA Capital Lends in Texas
AVANA underwrites from its own balance sheet with Oaktree-backed bridge capital, which changes three things for a Texas borrower.
Lease-up is a core scenario rather than an exception. A building with a certificate of occupancy, a credible leasing plan and no stabilised income is a structuring conversation about reserve and timeline, not a decline — which is precisely the gap Texas’s construction volume creates. Second, there is no county footprint across 254 counties. Third, hospitality is a core competency, which matters for PIP and renovation work statewide.
Loan sizes run $5 million to $30 million. See our national guide to the best commercial bridge loan lenders and the bridge loan product page.
Bridge Financing by Texas Market: DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley
Dallas–Fort Worth. The largest industrial construction pipeline in the country, including the AllianceTexas corridor, Frisco and Las Colinas. Lease-up bridge on newly delivered space is the dominant need, and competition for bank construction capacity is the state’s tightest.
Houston. The fastest-climbing industrial market nationally, plus energy-infrastructure and petrochemical-adjacent industrial along the Gulf Coast. Deep private-lender presence, including Texas’s most commercially focused bridge funds.
Austin. Semiconductor and technology-driven demand at the state’s highest basis, with land constraints pushing development outward and lengthening timelines.
San Antonio. Steadier, less speculative growth across industrial, retail and hospitality, with military and healthcare demand underpinning it. Mid-size deals are well served.
Rio Grande Valley and South Texas. Cross-border logistics and agriculture-driven demand served by a small number of institutions — where a nationwide lender is most often the practical answer.
The Exit Is the Whole Deal: How to Refinance Out of a Bridge Loan
A bridge loan is a plan with a deadline. In Texas the plan is usually “lease it up, then refinance,” and the risk is that leasing takes longer than the pro forma assumed.
Refinance into permanent debt. The standard exit. It requires occupancy and NOI sufficient for a conventional DSCR test — calculated on reassessed property taxes. Model it that way from the outset or the exit will not be there when you need it.
Refinance into SBA 504. For owner-occupied commercial property, bridge-to-504 is a real path, since SBA 504 financing offers long fixed-rate amortisation at roughly 10% equity. It is slower — begin well before maturity.
Sale. Legitimate, but it makes the outcome dependent on the transaction market at a specific date.
The Texas failure mode is a 12-month bridge on an 18-month lease-up. Size the interest reserve for the slower case, negotiate extension options, and read our guide to bridge-to-permanent refinancing before committing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Bridge Loans in Texas
The Bottom Line on Texas Bridge Loan Lenders
The best bridge loan lenders in Texas depend on which market you are in. Flipping houses or building spec homes? Little City Investments, FlipCo and the national residential platforms are purpose-built for that, and a commercial lender is not. Need speed up to $10 million on either residential or commercial? Capital Fund 1 has a genuine commercial bridge product and funds fast. Want a discretionary CRE debt fund based in Texas? C2R Capital belongs on your list.
If you own income-producing Texas commercial property — a newly delivered industrial building waiting on tenants, a hotel carrying a PIP, an asset repriced by reassessment — you need a direct commercial lender that sizes to cost rather than trailing income, underwrites the reassessed tax figure from the start, and has no county line to stop at. That is where AVANA Capital lends: commercial bridge from $5 million to $30 million, backed by a joint venture with Oaktree Capital, across Texas and all 50 states, on 23+ years and $1.7 billion in closed loans.
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