Big Banks Were Strong Out of the Turn in 2025

In 2023, amid several failures and the worst financial crisis in a decade, some banks were left for dead in commercial real estate. But 2025 brought commercial banking back into the fold, and the nation’s largest money lenders produced the largest amount of capital markets business in the last 12 months. 

Take J.P. Morgan Chase, for instance. Jamie Dimon’s firm originated $87 billion in loans last year, proving that established client relationships, multinational partnerships and a reputation founded on consistency, capital and the assurance of swift and safe execution will usually win the day in CRE lending spheres.  

“In periods of volatility, we have a clear playbook to support our clients,” said Michelle Herrick, head of commercial real estate at J.P. Morgan Chase. 

“Our clients expect consistency of capital and client experience,” Herrick continued. “That’s what we deliver in any environment, and we contributed a significant amount of debt capital to support this industry in 2025 with no plans to change any of that commitment. We’re also scanning for unusual opportunities that create additional value, long term, for our platform.” 

Then there’s Wells Fargo. Led by Kara McShane, head of commercial real estate at Wells Fargo Corporate and Investment Banking, this megabank originated $41 billion in balance sheet loans, up 200 percent year-over-year, and added another $21.3 billion of CMBS along with $11.3 billion in agency. Those are numbers debt funds simply can’t touch. 

“In a crowded or volatile environment, dependability and trust matter more than ever,” said McShane. “We don’t try to win every deal — we focus on relationships and structures that perform through cycles.” 

Then there is the venerable duo of Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, a pair of investment banks that were vulnerable to collapse after the 2008-2009 Global Financial Crisis, but which appear stronger than ever as we hit the back half of the 2020s. 

Under the guidance of Kwasi Benneh, Morgan Stanley executed $14.1 billion in U.S. originations, with 70 percent of its lending brought from the hyper-complex CMBS market. 

Goldman Sachs’ team of debt specialists — Mark Romanczuk, Siddharth Shrivastava, Timothy Richards and Andrew White — were all over the CMBS market in 2025, as well. The firm executed $14.4 billion of CMBS originations in 2025, an increase of 9 percent from 2024 and 140 percent from its 2023 output of $6 billion.

“Our edge is the breadth of the platform where we can deliver solutions in all all shapes and sizes in any market environment,” Romanczuk said. “We can provide a tailored solution, rather than trying to fit an answer into one narrow product box.”

With numbers and leadership like that, it doesn’t appear banks are going anywhere in the near future.

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com.