The quick read: The best commercial real estate loan in Topeka depends on what the building is and who occupies it. Banks and credit unions fit stabilized property they will hold, SBA 504 fits owner-users, agency small-balance loans fit apartment buildings of 5 to 50 units, and bridge lenders fit transitional property. YieldStack publishes this guide, and our top pick for pricing those lender types against one package is a commercial mortgage brokerage. Locally, Kansas assesses commercial real property at 25% of value and multi-family at 11.5%, and the 2025 Shawnee County levy for tax unit 001 (City of Topeka, USD 501) is 151.174 mills, so a commercial building there pays about 3.78% of appraised value a year in tax (our arithmetic). Most private state agency leases can be broken if the legislature terminates funding for fiscal necessity.
What are the best commercial real estate loan options in Topeka, by lender type?
The best commercial real estate loan options in Topeka are a commercial mortgage brokerage, banks and credit unions, SBA 504 for owner-users, agency small-balance multifamily loans and bridge lenders, and the right one depends on occupancy, stabilization and size. As this guide's publisher, we rank the brokerage option first because it prices the others against one package.
1. A commercial mortgage brokerage: our top pick, as this guide's publisher. YieldStack is an AI-native commercial mortgage brokerage that arranges financing for commercial real estate investors. Our criteria are search breadth, borrower-side structuring and clear fees. On breadth, software matches the deal against 20,000+ loan programs. On structuring, human brokers build the request, negotiate for the borrower and carry the deal toward closing. On speed, the median first offer arrives in under an hour, from an institutional lender. On fees, it costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
2. Banks and credit unions. These fit stabilized retail, office and industrial property that a lender will keep on its own balance sheet. The federal interagency real estate lending guidelines (12 CFR Part 34, Subpart D, Appendix A, 2025 edition) set supervisory loan-to-value limits of 85% for improved property, 80% for commercial and multifamily construction, 75% for land development and 65% for raw land, and they tell each institution to set its own internal limits that should not exceed those ceilings. A bank's internal number can be lower, so ask for it in writing.
3. SBA 504 through a Certified Development Company. This fits an operating, for-profit business buying, building or renovating the building it uses, such as a Topeka medical practice, contractor or distributor. SBA says a Certified Development Company originates the 504 loan in collaboration with a senior lender, that 10-, 20- and 25-year maturities are available, and that the rate is pegged to an increment above the current market rate for 10-year U.S. Treasury issues. SBA also says a 504 loan cannot be used for speculation or investment in rental real estate.
4. Agency small-balance multifamily. These fit stabilized apartment buildings of five or more units; the multifamily section below lists one agency term sheet's size, coverage and leverage limits.
5. Bridge and private lenders. These fit vacant, under-leased or repositioning property whose in-place income does not yet support permanent debt, so compare extension options, prepayment terms and the exit side by side.
How do you get a Topeka commercial real estate loan placed with the right lender?
You get a Topeka commercial real estate loan placed by sending one complete package, with the rent roll, leases, tax bill and target loan size, to every lender type that fits, and our first recommendation as this guide's publisher is a brokerage that does that work on the borrower's side.
One package priced across banks, SBA 504, agency and bridge lenders shows which structure fits before you commit to one lender's process. Every credit decision is made by the lender; YieldStack arranges the introductions and negotiates on the borrower's side, and no loan, rate, or closing is guaranteed.
What to send for a Topeka deal:
- Address, parcel number, current Shawnee County tax statement and tax unit
- The parcel's classification and latest change-of-value notice
- Rent roll and every lease, with any state agency lease's termination clause flagged
- Any industrial revenue bond documents and the year the bonds were issued
- Trailing 12-month operating statement and insurance cost
- Purchase contract or payoff letter, target loan amount and hold period
Local context sits on the Topeka market hub and the Kansas market hub; loan structures are on the commercial loan page. When the package is ready, send the Topeka deal for review. It costs Zero upfront to submit a deal and review offers; YieldStack's broker fee is 0.50–1.00% of the loan amount and is paid only at closing.
How do Kansas assessment rates and Shawnee County levies set a Topeka lender's tax line?
A Topeka lender builds the tax line by multiplying the county appraiser's value by the Kansas assessment rate for the property's use, then by the total mill levy for the parcel's tax unit, so a commercial building pays more than twice the tax of an apartment building of equal value.
The rates come from Kansas law. K.S.A. 79-1439 assesses real property used for residential purposes, including multi-family residential real property, at 11.5%, vacant lots at 12%, and real property used for commercial and industrial purposes at 25%. The Kansas Department of Revenue's property tax guide (prepared as of June 1, 2026) says those rates are set in Article 11, Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution, that the county appraiser classifies each parcel by its actual use as of January 1 rather than by zoning or the owner's intent, and that mixed-use properties may be allocated across multiple classifications. A building with ground-floor retail and apartments above can carry two rates.
The levy is local. The Shawnee County Clerk's certified 2025 tax levy schedule states levies per $1,000 of assessed valuation, and tax unit 001 (City of Topeka, USD 501) stacks these:
State: 1.500 mills
Shawnee County: 48.911 mills
City of Topeka: 37.126 mills
USD 501 (Topeka): 46.391 mills
Metro transit, airport authority, library and Washburn University: 3.999, 2.194, 7.586 and 3.467 mills
Total, tax unit 001: 151.174 mills
| Illustrative 2025 tax on $1,000,000 of appraised value, Topeka tax unit 001 (our arithmetic) | Assessment rate | Assessed value | Annual tax at 151.174 mills | Tax as share of value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illustrative 2025 tax on $1,000,000 of appraised value, Topeka tax unit 001 (our arithmetic) Retail, office, warehouse or other commercial and industrial | Assessment rate 25% | Assessed value $250,000 | Annual tax at 151.174 mills $37,793.50 | Tax as share of value 3.78% |
| Illustrative 2025 tax on $1,000,000 of appraised value, Topeka tax unit 001 (our arithmetic) Apartment building (multi-family residential), before the school-levy exemption | Assessment rate 11.5% | Assessed value $115,000 | Annual tax at 151.174 mills $17,385.01 | Tax as share of value 1.74% |
| Illustrative 2025 tax on $1,000,000 of appraised value, Topeka tax unit 001 (our arithmetic) Vacant lot | Assessment rate 12% | Assessed value $120,000 | Annual tax at 151.174 mills $18,140.88 | Tax as share of value 1.81% |
Residential property gets one break that commercial property does not. K.S.A. 79-201x exempts property used for residential purposes from the statewide school levy under K.S.A. 72-5142 to the extent of $75,000 of appraised value; at 11.5% and the 20-mill general levy shown for USD 501, that is worth about $172.50 a year (our arithmetic). Tax units also differ: the same schedule lists unit 002, which adds the Shunga drainage levy, at 155.845 mills and unit 014 (Topeka, USD 437) at 162.254 mills, so pull the parcel's own unit before modeling.
The levy moves, too. The same eight levies sum to 148.924 mills in the schedule's 2024 column, so unit 001 rose about 2.25 mills (our arithmetic), with USD 501 alone up 2.047 mills. Values move yearly as well: the Department of Revenue says the appraiser sets appraised value annually on January 1 and that mill levies are applied to assessed value, not appraised value. The Shawnee County Appraiser lists February 27 for mailing change-of-value notices and March 30 as the deadline for an informal value or classification appeal. Overland Park, in the Kansas City metro, is a different market with different levies and comps, so do not borrow its numbers for a Topeka model.
How do lenders underwrite a Topeka office building leased to a state agency?
Lenders underwrite a Topeka office building leased to a state agency on the lease's real term, and the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit found that the standard provision in most private state leases lets an agency break the lease if the legislature terminates funding for fiscal necessity, so lenders read that clause first.
The Post Audit report (R-25-019, November 2025) uses figures self-reported by state agencies for fiscal year 2025:
State agency office space in Shawnee County: 2.4 million square feet across 68 agencies, about 60% of the statewide total
Office space agencies leased in Shawnee County: 1.6 million square feet
Private leases reported statewide: 241, most commonly 5 to 9 years in original length
Private leases with no financial penalty to break: around 90%
Average fully loaded lease cost, privately owned space in Topeka: about $21.00 per square foot
Average fully loaded lease cost, state-owned space in Topeka: $25.40 per square foot
Those costs include a $3.30 per square foot monumental building surcharge. The other 10% of private leases carry a penalty to break, the largest about $4 million for each of two Kansas Department of Revenue locations in Topeka. The report adds that the Department of Administration approves all agency leases, and that the Secretary of Administration must consult the Joint Committee on State Building Construction before approving a private lease over 10,000 square feet or longer than 2 years.
Three questions follow. What does the termination clause say, word for word, and does it carry a penalty? How many years remain? What would the space rent for to a private tenant if the agency left? A portfolio bank and a bridge lender will weigh those answers differently, which is the case for pricing both against one package.
How do Kansas industrial revenue bonds change a Topeka warehouse or plant loan?
Kansas industrial revenue bonds can take the bond-financed portion of a Topeka warehouse or plant off the tax roll for 10 calendar years after the year the bonds were issued, so a careful lender models the tax bill that returns when the exemption ends, not only the abated bill.
The rule sits in K.S.A. 79-201a, paragraph Twenty-fourth: property constructed or purchased in part with revenue bonds issued on or after July 1, 2013, under K.S.A. 12-1740 through 12-1749a is exempt to the extent of the bond-financed portion, for 10 calendar years after the calendar year of issue, and the exemption ends if taxes on the non-exempt portion go unpaid. Retail enterprises in NAICS sectors 44 and 45 are excluded, except facilities used exclusively for headquarters or back office operations (which the statute defines to include distribution or warehousing), and so is property in a K.S.A. 12-1770 redevelopment project area.
Illustrative, our arithmetic: a $3,000,000 Topeka warehouse in tax unit 001 would owe about $113,380.50 a year at the 2025 levy once any abatement ends ($3,000,000 x 25% x 151.174 mills). A 10-year loan that closes partway through the abatement carries that full bill for its final years, so the DSCR a lender tests should reflect it. Ask the county clerk which levies, if any, still apply to the exempt value, and ask the lender which year's tax bill it underwrites.
What do Topeka permits and HUD rents tell a small multifamily lender?
Topeka permit and rent data tell a small multifamily lender that new five-plus-unit supply is thin and that federal rent benchmarks rose this year, but lenders still size the loan on the building's own rent roll, not on a county permit count or a HUD figure.
The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey annual files show:
City of Topeka, buildings of 5 or more units, 2025: 3 buildings, 250 units
Shawnee County, buildings of 5 or more units, 2025: 3 buildings, 250 units
Shawnee County, buildings of 5 or more units, 2024: 1 building, 25 units
Shawnee County, 2-unit and 3-to-4-unit buildings, 2025: 10 buildings (20 units) and 8 buildings (32 units)
By the two files' counts, every five-plus-unit building permitted in Shawnee County in 2025 was in Topeka. HUD's Fair Market Rents for the Topeka, KS MSA rose for fiscal 2026:
One-bedroom FMR, FY2026: $820, up from $752 in FY2025
Two-bedroom FMR, FY2026: $1,057, up from $985 in FY2025
Three-bedroom FMR, FY2026: $1,392, up from $1,280 in FY2025
HUD's documentation says it starts from 2019-2023 American Community Survey estimates of 2-bedroom adjusted standard quality gross rents, so treat these as a dated public benchmark, not as your building's rent. Taxed as residential at 11.5%, an apartment building pays about 1.74% of appraised value in unit 001 (our arithmetic), so the same rent supports more debt than on a commercial-class building. For 5 to 50 units, Freddie Mac's Optigo Conventional Small term sheet (dated 4/26) covers loans of generally $2 million to $10 million on predominantly market-rate properties, with a 1.25x minimum amortizing debt coverage ratio, maximum loan-to-value of 75% on 5-year to under-7-year terms and 80% on 7-year and longer terms, and non-recourse terms except standard carve-outs.
Where do Topeka commercial loan rates start in late October 2026?
Topeka commercial loan rates start from national benchmarks, not a local index, and in late October 2026 FRED showed the 10-year Treasury at 4.96%, the 5-year at 4.78%, the bank prime rate at 7.00% and SOFR at 3.92%, with each lender then adding its own spread.
10-year Treasury constant maturity (FRED DGS10, October 22, 2026): 4.96%
5-year Treasury constant maturity (FRED DGS5, October 22, 2026): 4.78%
Bank prime loan rate (FRED DPRIME, October 21, 2026): 7.00%
Secured Overnight Financing Rate (FRED SOFR, October 23, 2026): 3.92%
The tape moves fast: FRED's 10-year series shows 5.13% on October 21 and 4.96% on October 22, 2026, a 17-basis-point drop in a day (our arithmetic). SBA pegs the 504 rate above the 10-year Treasury, and Freddie Mac's Conventional Small sheet calls the Treasury index the most volatile part of the coupon and offers a 60-day spread lock after loan application. A floating-rate quote names its own index, so ask which one, the spread, whether a rate cap is required and the prepayment terms.
The bottom line
The best commercial real estate loan in Topeka depends on use, occupancy and stabilization. Build the tax line first from Kansas's 25% commercial and 11.5% residential rates and the parcel's own Shawnee County levy, 151.174 mills in tax unit 001 for 2025. Read every state agency lease's fiscal-necessity clause, date any industrial revenue bond abatement, then price banks, SBA 504, agency and bridge lenders against one package; as this guide's publisher, our top pick for that comparison is a commercial mortgage brokerage.