Real Estate Capital Simplified
Construction Financing for Colorado Development
Debt and equity financing for Colorado commercial development projects
Construction financing in Colorado runs from bank loans at 60–70% of cost to debt funds stretching to 85–90%, with HUD and CHFA programs for projects that fit them.
I'm Carl Riggins, and I arrange construction debt and development equity for Colorado sponsors on the Northmarq platform, marketing each request to 500+ capital sources — most recently $46M for a 227-unit project in Broomfield. Deals from $3M to $100M+, statewide.
Why start a Colorado project now?
Many believe that the best time to build is when everyone else has stopped.
Denver's construction pipeline has shrunk for six straight quarters and now sits at a five-year low, with trailing-year completions down more than 40% from 2024's record.
A project breaking ground today delivers into the thinnest supply this market has seen in years, not into the 2024 wave that punished the last cycle's lease-ups. The developers who capitalize projects in this window will lease into that gap.
Who is lending on Colorado construction right now?
Every construction lender's appetite is set by something that has nothing to do with your project.
Banks are managing regulator-watched CRE concentration limits, and construction is the first allocation cut. The bank that passes isn't rejecting your deal, it's out of room. Debt funds raised vintage capital that must deploy on schedule.
Knowing who has room this quarter is often the most important part of the job.
what capital sources realistically look like
How much of the project cost can I finance?
Senior debt sets the floor, structure sets the ceiling. A bank senior at 65% of cost plus preferred equity typically carries the stack to 85%; a debt-fund senior can get there alone. If you already own the land, its as-is value generally counts toward your equity, which on a long-held site can mean little new cash in.
The right answer is rarely maximum leverage. It's the structure whose cost, recourse, and timeline match how long your business plan actually needs — a 40-year HUD execution and an 18-month merchant build are different problems wearing the same hard hat.
The equity side of development
Most Colorado construction requests I see are short on equity, not debt.
I place LP equity, preferred equity, and JV or co-GP structures for development deals from $5M to $30M+, from the same marketed process: the capital competes, you pick the partner. If your gap is at the GP level, that has its own solution — co-GP capital exists precisely for sponsors with more pipeline than balance sheet.