Mike Edelman, Tim Gallagher and Matt Petrula

After a 2024 that saw M&T Bank originate $11 billion in loans, with $5.4 billion being placed through the firm’s agency and mortgage arm, M&T Realty Capital Corporation, the company saw marked growth in 2025, with those numbers jumping to $15 billion and $6.2 billion — the latter a record for M&T Realty Capital.

M&T’s origination activity includes a mix of construction, permanent, bridge and corporate facilities throughout a project’s life cycle both on and off balance sheet, a variety the firm considers a major differentiator for its clients.

“We have a lot of borrowers who are ground-up developers, or they’re looking to buy an asset and reposition it,” said Matt Petrula. “Our platform provides a product for every phase of the life cycle of that asset.”

Mike Edelman — who, like Petrula, reports to Tim Gallagher — said that the firm developed a bridge-to-permanent-loan product for transitional assets that are going through lease-up, repositioning or major capex.    

“It gives owners property-level financing for that transition period so they can bridge the gap between modification or renovation of the property into the permanent state,” said Edelman.

Significant transactions this past year for M&T Realty Capital included providing a $142 million bridge-to-agency loan to a joint venture involving Fetner, MCB Real Estate and Farallon Capital Management for the acquisition and lease-up of a 463-unit multifamily tower in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, as well as a $57 million bridge-to-agency loan to Victrix for its lease-up of LiveWell, an office-to-apartment conversion in Downtown Pittsburgh. 

In today’s economy, lenders like M&T must maintain an adaptability around the various asset types in order to enjoy success, Petrula said.

“You need the willingness and ability to look around the corner as far as what’s happening in the market,” he said. “For something that might have been a very successful office loan 10 years ago, the highest and best use on that property may very well be residential today. The ability to do that is really important in order to stay relevant for our customers.”