Commercial real estate loans available, but …

Across the nation much of the commercial real estate market, which includes retail, industrial and office projects, has been on hold as developers wait for existing space to be filled before seeking new construction loans. Media coverage of the liquidity crisis in banking has many people thinking banks everywhere have no money to lend.

That perception isn’t true, according to Mark Bower, senior vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer for Home State Bank. While Northern Colorado banks expect 2009 to be slower than last year, “We are not at ground zero with nothing happening,” he said.

Banks that…