Commercial Bridge Loans in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County

By Justin Ashcraft, President, Northern Ridge Capital. Last updated September 2026.

Commercial bridge loans in Fort Lauderdale are short-term mortgages, usually 6 to 24 months and interest-only, used to buy or refinance a Broward County property that isn't ready for permanent debt yet. Bridge loans in Broward work a little differently from the rest of Florida. New apartment supply here is thin rather than piling up, the whole county sits inside the building code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, and the deals that need speed are acquisitions in a tight market and repositioning plays on buildings the last cycle left behind. Northern Ridge Capital arranges $5M–$30M in bridge debt on Broward commercial real estate and puts competing capital sources in a bidding war for it. We're a broker, not a lender.

How fast do commercial bridge loans in Fort Lauderdale close?

Plan on 15 to 30 days on a complete, lender-ready file. Preparation decides that number more than the market does. You need clear title, a full rent roll and operating history, a credible exit, and a bound insurance quote rather than an estimate. On a coastal Broward asset the insurance quote is the item most likely to blow the schedule, so we ask for it in week one. We package the file the way a credit committee reads it before it reaches a desk, which is how a bridge outruns a bank. Timeline mechanics are in how fast a commercial bridge loan actually closes, and you can size a structure with the bridge loan calculator.

What's happening in the Broward County market

Broward has spent two years going the other way from the rest of Florida. Per the Marcus & Millichap 2026 Miami Multifamily Investment Forecast, as reported by South Florida Agent Magazine in January 2026, Fort Lauderdale will take delivery of about 3,300 units this year, the smallest annual figure since 2022, on inventory growth of 1.6%. Vacancy is projected at 4.9% and average effective rent at $2,530 a month, the top of the state.

Permits tell you what comes after that. The U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey estimates Broward County permitted 1,904 units in buildings of five or more units in 2025. That's up from 902 in 2024, but well under the 2,948 permitted in 2020 and 2,396 in 2021, the years that fed the last delivery wave.

Put that beside Tampa, where 16,146 units are still underway, and you have two Florida markets that need different financing arguments. In Tampa the lender's worry is whether your building fills. In Broward the lender's worry is whether you can win the deal at all, because every other buyer is chasing the same scarce product, and the seller knows it.

Where the Broward bridge deals are

Three places, and only one of them looks like the rest of Florida.

Office repositioning. Cushman & Wakefield put Broward office vacancy at 16.3% at midyear 2026, up 10 basis points on the quarter and 30 year over year, in its Q2 2026 office MarketBeat. Office is the Broward asset class where bridge capital does its most obvious work. Basis resets, conversions and re-tenanting plans all need money that funds on the plan rather than on trailing income, and permanent lenders won't write that.

Acquisitions where speed is the offer. With deliveries shrinking and vacancy projected near 4.9%, good Broward assets trade with competition. A financed buyer who can commit to 15 to 30 days and hold to it is competing with cash on the one term cash usually wins on. That's a bridge, lined up before you bid.

Maturities on assets that are fine. A 2021 loan on a stabilized Broward property can still come due into a rate environment that won't replicate it. A bridge gives you a year or two of control instead of a forced decision on the lender's calendar. Our commercial refinance page covers the permanent side of that exit.

Broward County is inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone

The Florida Building Code, 8th edition (2023) defines its High-Velocity Hurricane Zone in one line: "This zone consists of Broward and Miami-Dade counties." Nowhere else in the state is covered. Every Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood or Pompano Beach building is judged against the stricter HVHZ provisions for roofs, windows and other exterior openings, and the year a building was built or re-roofed tells you which version of those rules it met.

On a bridge file that shows up in two places. The insurer prices wind risk off roof age, roof covering and opening protection, and the lender sizes the loan off that premium. A current roof report and wind-mitigation inspection are the documents that answer both. On an older Broward building, get them before you bid, because a roof that needs replacing is a capital-budget line the lender will want funded in your business plan.

The coastal insurance line that sets your Fort Lauderdale loan size

Insurance moves a Broward loan more than any rent assumption in your model, and the trend is improving. Per the Marsh Global Insurance Market Index published July 23, 2026, global commercial insurance rates fell 6% in the second quarter, the eighth consecutive quarterly decline, with property down 12% globally and 13% in the US. Earlier Marsh data reported by Commercial Property Executive shows property rates fell 10% in Q1 2026 and catastrophe-exposed accounts fell about 16% year over year, roughly double the 7% decline on non-catastrophe risk.

Then read the caveat, because it fits this market. Jason Adams of Cox, Castle & Nicholson: "Rumors of a softer market are real, but it has yet to reach the properties that need it most." A coastal Broward asset with an older roof is one of those properties. Softening headlines don't price your renewal.

On a Fort Lauderdale file, a lender underwrites the go-forward premium into debt-service coverage at current replacement cost, not the seller's historical number. Bring a current bound quote and, if you have them, the roof report and wind-mitigation inspection.

What a premium gap does to loan size (illustrative)

Illustrative only. The purchase, premiums, 9% interest-only rate and 1.20x coverage test are assumptions picked to show the arithmetic. They aren't a quote or a market figure.

A $90,000 difference in premium cost about $833,000 of loan proceeds on the same Broward building. That's equity you'd have to bring at closing, which is why we want the bound quote in week one.

When commercial bridge loans in Fort Lauderdale are the right tool

You're repositioning an office or mixed-use building

The value is in the plan, not the current rent roll. A bridge funds on the plan and hands the stabilized asset to permanent debt afterward.

You need certainty of close to win the deal

In a market with shrinking deliveries and vacancy projected under 5%, sellers pick on execution risk. A pre-arranged bridge is how a financed buyer competes with cash.

Your loan matures and the permanent market won't replace it yet

A bridge buys 12 to 24 months of control rather than forcing a sale or a refinance on somebody else's date.

You're moving 1031 money into South Florida

45 days to identify, 180 to close, and a tax bill for missing it. A bridge closes inside those windows and refinances later on your schedule. If your search runs south into Miami-Dade, see Miami bridge loans.

Why one lender is the wrong first call on a Broward deal

A direct lender has one box: one appetite for South Florida wind exposure, one view on office repositioning risk, one leverage ceiling. Office is where that bites hardest, because a desk that took a loss on a repositioning in 2024 may not write another one in 2026 however good your plan is, and it won't tell you that on the first call. A broker runs the whole market on your clock. We take the file to the bridge desks, debt funds and private capital groups in our network of 700+ that want Broward product, then let them compete on price and terms. Our fee is a 1% origination fee, paid only when the deal closes. See the commercial bridge loan hub for how the process runs nationally, Florida bridge loans for the statewide view, and markets we serve for the rest of the footprint.

Typical Fort Lauderdale bridge terms

Structure shown is typical, not a quote or commitment; actual terms are set by third-party lenders subject to underwriting. See disclosures.

Fort Lauderdale and Broward bridge loans: FAQ

Do you arrange bridge loans across Broward County, not just Fort Lauderdale?

Yes. We cover all of Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Plantation, Sunrise and Coral Springs. Distance from the coast changes the insurance number and therefore the loan amount, so two similar assets in different parts of the county can size differently.

Does the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone change a Broward bridge loan?

Indirectly, through insurance. The Florida Building Code puts all of Broward and Miami-Dade in the HVHZ, so roofs and openings are judged against stricter wind provisions. The insurer prices off how your building measures up, and the lender sizes the loan off that premium. A roof report and wind-mitigation inspection help on both.

Can I finance an office repositioning in Broward?

That's one of the main reasons bridge capital exists here. Permanent lenders won't underwrite a building on a plan rather than a rent roll. A bridge will, priced on asset value, your equity and a credible exit.

Broward supply is tightening. Doesn't that make financing easier?

It makes the exit easier to argue and the acquisition harder to win. A tight market means a lender believes your stabilization story, which helps. It also means you're bidding against people who believe it too, so the speed of your capital becomes the competitive term.

Is Florida insurance still a problem for Fort Lauderdale deals in 2026?

It's improving, and it's still the largest single swing factor in your loan amount. Marsh reported US property rates down 13% in Q2 2026, and catastrophe-exposed accounts fell about 16% year over year in Q1. A lender still prices the go-forward premium at current replacement cost, and as Cox, Castle & Nicholson's Jason Adams put it, the soft market "has yet to reach the properties that need it most." Bring a bound quote and your wind-mitigation documentation.

Is a bridge loan more expensive than a bank loan?

Yes. Bridge money is short, priced off the asset, and carries the cost of speed and flexibility. Competition keeps that cost honest, which is why we run several sources at the same deal instead of taking the first quote.

What size Fort Lauderdale deals do you finance?

Northern Ridge Capital arranges $5 million to $30 million in commercial real estate debt. Commercial real estate only, no residential.

Is Northern Ridge Capital a lender?

No. Northern Ridge Capital is a licensed commercial mortgage broker (CA DRE #02093377) placing $5 million to $30 million in commercial real estate debt. We match your deal to the right capital source out of 700+ and make them bid for it.

About

Justin Ashcraft is the president of Northern Ridge Capital, a commercial real estate debt brokerage placing $5M–$30M in multifamily, retail and industrial financing nationwide within its licensed footprint, with $600M+ in deal experience across underwriting and brokerage. Licensed in California, DRE #02093377.

Northern Ridge Capital is a licensed commercial mortgage broker (CA DRE #02093377), not a lender, and arranges financing on commercial real estate only (no residential). Market figures are attributed to their published sources and change over time. Structures and figures shown are typical and are not an indication or offer of terms. For informational purposes only; not financial, legal, or tax advice. Full disclosures.