IRVINE, CA—CREF15 in San Diego earlier this month was bustling, with a lender environment that has welcomed a variety of new players. One area that has become of particular interest is the small-balance commercial-loan space, a space where ReadyCap Commercial LLC has great expertise. We sat down with Jim Going, ReadyCap's CEO, during the conference to discuss why the field is so attractive to his firm and the trends he anticipates to emerge this year within the sector. (The video clip below shows an excerpt from that interview.) Later, we spoke with Going on a more in-depth basis about his outlook for the year ahead in the lending landscape, the most interesting thing happening with small-balance commercial loans and some of the geographical hotspots for this market sector.

GlobeSt.com: How do you view the outlook for the year in the commercial-loan space?

Going: We're very excited about the 2015 landscape. We think it's going to be a great year for production. There's about $200 billion, plus or minus, in the small-balance commercial real estate loan space, and it's a very fragmented market. We approach it in a very focused and disciplined manner, and we think our ability to generate good-quality, small-balance commercial real estate loans is very likely in the year ahead.

GlobeSt.com: What do you see for the year ahead in the lending landscape?

Going: We are very bullish on 2015 for a lot of reasons. First, there's the size of the small-balance market. Additionally there are legacy loans that were originated between 2005 and 2010 that are maturing, and those borrowers need access to capital to refinance their properties. We are positioned very well to take advantage of that void in the marketplace. In addition, ReadyCap offers a product suite that's different from traditional commercial banks. We offer both longer amortizations and loan terms, and we can offer a bridge product, mini-perm and flexible pre-pay options as well.

GlobeSt.com: What is the most interesting thing happening with small-balance commercial loans these days?

Going: We're seeing a lot more interest in the space than we did three to five years ago. Historically, all the business originated in the space was being done by commercial banks or depositories. Now, we're seeing non-bank lenders such as ReadyCap enter the space and take advantage of the robust market.

GlobeSt.com: What are some of the hot geographical markets for lending that you're noticing?

Going: Obviously, you're going to see robust activity in California—that's been the case historically and continues to be in this current environment. Texas, New York and the Northeast are strong markets for us. There are opportunities in all those regions, in both primary and secondary markets.