CHERRY HILL, NJ—TD Bank said late last month ithad closed more than 200 commercial real estate loans in 2013, fora volume last year of $3.9 billion, numbers that speak to theresurgence of borrowing as well as lending. Demand shows no sign ofslowing down this year for the US subsidiary ofToronto-Dominion Bank of Canada, even ascompetition has intensified. Gregg Gerken, SVP andhead of US commercial real estate lending for at TD Bank, spokerecently with GlobeSt.com about the recent past, present andnear-term future of CRE financing.

GlobeSt.com: How did 2013 compare with what you sawin 2012?

Gregg Gerken: A lot of lenders whowere on the sidelines in 2012 were back in 2013 in a big way. Thebiggest disitinction between the two years was the amount ofcapital that was available, up and down the capital stack: theamount of equity that was available as well as the number of banksthat were back in the market. And you can see it in some of thepublic numbers that are published: CMBS activity was up markedlyfrom '12 to '13.