Mercantile Capital Corporation Reports Big Increase in Commercial Property Loans

Altamonte Springs, FL, April 09, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Mercantile Capital Corporation, Inc., which specializes in U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 loans for small business owners who want to acquire or develop their own facilities, reports it closed on 12 commercial loans for more than $35.7 million in total project costs during the first quarter which ended March 31.

Geof Longstaff, chairman of Mercantile Capital Corporation, said commercial property loans during the first quarter of 2010 represent a significant increase over the first quarter of 2009, when Mercantile Capital closed on three loans for more than $3.2 million in total project costs.

"The market is coming alive," Longstaff said. "Small business owners are realizing that the SBA 504 loans offer several major advantages over traditional sources, not the least of which is that we have capital available and we are providing it to those small business enterprises," he said.

The largest single loan during the first quarter---more than $7.59 million in total project costs---financed the acquisition of a Hampton Inn in Port Arthur, Calif.

Mercantile Capital Corporation is one of the most active SBA 504 lenders in the U.S., Chris Hurn, chief executive officer of the company, said.

"Our loan volume for the first quarter of this year is almost half our entire loan volume in 2009," said Hurn, who projects Mercantile Capital Corporation will close on commercial property loans valued at more than $100 million this year.

SBA 504 commercial property loans offer below-market interest rates with only 10 percent down.

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