Commercial real estate lending at Comerica

The Comerica CRE product mix

Five product types cover the practical commercial real estate financing landscape: acquisition, refinance, construction, multi-family, and owner-occupied.

Acquisition financing funds the purchase of a commercial property held for income production. Refinance lending replaces existing mortgage debt at a new rate or term. Construction lending funds the build-out of new commercial buildings on a draw schedule that converts to permanent financing at completion. Multi-family lending finances apartment buildings and similar income-property assets. Owner-occupied financing pays for the building a business operates inside, with the underwriting blending the building cash flow and the operating-business cash flow.

Where Comerica CRE has historical strength

The Comerica CRE franchise has deep historical roots in Texas and Michigan, and the underwriting team is familiar with the local-market dynamics that drive cap-rate compression and rent-growth trends.

For a CRE sponsor evaluating which lender to approach first on a Texas or Michigan project, Comerica is consistently named alongside the larger Texas regional banks and the Detroit-anchored institutions. The bank’s credit committee turn-around is typically faster than a national alternative on deals inside its franchise, and the relationship-banking model means the sponsor talks to a named relationship manager throughout underwriting rather than rotating through a centralized credit desk.

Practical underwriting expectations

CRE underwriting at Comerica weighs property cash flow, sponsor track record, and market rent assumptions against typical loan-to-value and debt-service-coverage ratios.

The typical Comerica CRE loan-to-value ceiling sits in the 65-75% range depending on property type and market, with debt-service-coverage requirements typically at or above 1.25x stabilized cash flow. Construction loans carry more conservative LTC and require completion guarantees and personal-recourse provisions on smaller deals. The bank looks closely at sponsor experience in the property type and submarket; first-time sponsors in unfamiliar property types face stricter terms or referral to a different lender.

How CRE pricing works

CRE pricing at Comerica is relationship-driven and quoted per-deal rather than published as a rate sheet.

For a sponsor used to consumer-mortgage rate transparency, commercial real estate pricing can feel opaque. The reality is that every CRE deal is priced individually based on property type, sponsor strength, market conditions, deal size, and the broader banking relationship. A sponsor with multiple existing Comerica relationships often gets a meaningful discount versus a first-time CRE borrower at the same bank. Public-research orientation guidance from the CFPB covers consumer-side fundamentals; for commercial-real-estate fundamentals the CRE Finance Council publishes useful market briefs.