MIAMI—Patricia Lubian, an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience, has joined BankUnited as a commercial real estate relationship manager. She will be responsible for development and management of commercial real estate relationships, primarily in Miami-Dade County.

Lubian served as senior vice president of commercial real estate for Regions Bank in Miami. She has also held senior positions in commercial and commercial real estate lending with Northern Trust of Florida and Barnett Bank of South Florida.

GlobeSt.com caught up with Lubian to get her insights into the commercial real estate lending market. She told us South Florida remains a vibrant market with a steady pipeline of new projects fueled by significant international and domestic investment.

"Competition is intense given the concentration of investors bullish on the South Florida economy coupled with an expected interest rate increase on the horizon," Lubian says. "Investors have proven willing to sacrifice traditional levels of return with cap rates compressing to levels that are almost non-existent in some cases."

Lubian is a member of the Latin Builders Association as well as a past board member of the Builders Association of South Florida. A Kendall resident, she graduated from Barry University with a bachelor's degree in economics and management.

"Borrowers clearly have the advantage in this environment given so many lenders are seeking to put their capital to good use, resulting in longer terms and competitive fixed rates," Lubian says. "Generally, construction lending is readily available for most property types including condominium thanks to unprecedented levels of project equity in the form of buyer deposits or investors' upfront capital contributions."

Want to know more about the commercial real estate lending scene? Read my recent article: What's Driving the SBA Loan Market?