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Ardent Capital GroupArdent Capital Group
Commercial property finance in Nowra and the Shoalhaven
Excellent★★★★★

Commercial property loans, Nowra and the Shoalhaven

Helping business owners finance commercial property in Nowra

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$2B+funded1,000+clients60+lenders

Buying commercial property in Nowra?

We fund the whole range of commercial property across the Shoalhaven: yards, workshops and construction premises, engineering and technical services buildings, coastal town retail, hospitality and practices, and leased property held as an investment. A business here often trades from one town and serves several, and setting that out is what stops a lender sizing the market from the postcode.

We can help you:

  • Buy the premises, site or yard your business operates from
  • Borrow up to 80% of the property value on standard commercial security. Up to 100% of the purchase price is achievable where you add equity from a property you already own.
  • Acquire a Shoalhaven commercial property as an investment
  • Refinance or release equity from a property you already own
  • Fund a workshop, warehouse or yard south of the river
  • Arrange finance for an SMSF commercial purchase
  • Buy a shopfront, office or consulting suite in any Shoalhaven town
  • Free up your working capital
  • Arrange finance through a trust, company or service-trust structure

Who we help:

  • Established business owners who require finance between $50K to $30M
  • First-time borrowers who need a beginner-friendly strategy
  • Sophisticated borrowers and investors who need a unique strategy and deal structure
  • Urgent, time-sensitive deals that need to move quickly
  • Self-employed and trust-structured borrowers who need their income presented properly
  • Commercial property owners with multi-tenancy plans
Nick Chong, commercial mortgage brokerKevin, commercial mortgage brokerHolly, commercial mortgage broker

Speak to a specialist today

1,000+

loans settled

$2B+

funded

Commercial property loans in Nowra and the Shoalhaven

From machining workshops to village pharmacies, we get you funded

We work across Nowra and the Shoalhaven: engineering and maintenance businesses serving defence and industry, builders and civil contractors needing yard space, retailers and hospitality operators in the coastal towns, medical and allied health practices, childcare and accommodation, and investors holding tenanted stock. We set out the catchment a property actually serves and manage the file through to settlement.

Funding from $50K to $30M
from over 60 bank & non-bank lenders

  • ANZ
  • Bankwest
  • Bluestone
  • Bank of Queensland
  • Commonwealth Bank
  • Firstmac
  • ING
  • Macquarie
  • NAB
  • Pepper Money
  • Suncorp Bank
  • Thinktank

Commercial finance across Nowra and the Shoalhaven

One local government area, dozens of small centres, and a trading area that rarely matches the town on the title. What we finance across the Shoalhaven includes:

  • Owner-occupier commercial property purchase
  • Investment commercial property and landlord finance
  • SMSF commercial property under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement
  • Commercial construction and development finance
  • Commercial property refinance and equity release

A lender assessing a shop in a village of two thousand people will assume the catchment is that village unless you show otherwise. Across the Shoalhaven that assumption is usually wrong, so correct it before the application is assessed.

Commercial property loans in Nowra

Why Nowra businesses choose Ardent Capital Group as their commercial broker

Execution and strategy

Strategy first, then execution. We structure your deal properly and take it to the lenders we know suit this kind of deal, without sending the same request out four ways.

Clear advice for smart lending

Straight answers on LVR, structure and timing, including when a deal does not stack up.

A long-term partner

We stay with you well beyond settlement, with lasting relationships and ongoing support from the team.

Property types

Nowra and Shoalhaven purchases, and how they read

A workshop at South Nowra, a cafe at Huskisson and a pharmacy at Milton draw on quite different catchments, and the file has to say so. Below is how each purchase is assessed, and the areas we cover.

Trading across a dispersed region

A credit team reading an application for a shop in a small coastal town will size the catchment from the town, because that is the information in front of them. Across the Shoalhaven that is usually an understatement: a trades business at Nowra services the whole coast, a practice at Ulladulla draws from the villages around it, and a supplier at Berry sells north into the Illawarra.

The fix is straightforward and it belongs in the application rather than in a later conversation. Where your customers come from, how far your vehicles travel, what share of revenue comes from outside the town, and whether the trade is seasonal all speak directly to the resilience of the income. It is your own information, so set it out.

  • The catchment behind a property is often much larger than the town it sits in
  • Set out where customers come from and what share of revenue is from outside the town
  • Seasonal coastal trade is presented across a full year rather than a peak quarter
  • A business serving several towns reads as more resilient than one serving a single village
  • Standard commercial security reaches up to 80% of value with full financials
  • Provide two years of financials and an accountant's letter

Defence-adjacent and engineering services

The naval air station supports a real base of engineering, maintenance, machining and technical services businesses, and many of them own their workshops on the industrial land south of the river. The property is standard industrial security reaching up to 80% of value.

What a credit team will look at closely is contract structure and customer concentration. Work tied to a small number of large contracts is assessed on the terms and the length of those contracts, so bring them to the conversation. Security clearances, accreditation and a long operating record all count in your favour and are worth stating plainly.

  • Standard industrial security reaches up to 80% of value with full financials
  • Contract length and customer concentration are assessed explicitly, so bring the detail
  • Accreditation and a long operating record both strengthen the application
  • Specialised machining plant is generally valued separately from the property
  • Terms run 25 to 30 years with non-bank lenders, against the 10 to 15 the major banks commonly publish
  • Machinery and equipment are funded on their own facility rather than the property loan

Yards, workshops and construction premises

Builders, civil contractors and trades across the Shoalhaven need land more than buildings, and a predominantly hardstand site is valued as land rather than improvements. Expect gearing around 65% on that basis rather than 80%.

Serviced industrial land here is tighter than the size of the local government area suggests, because national park and environmental land sits close against the industrial areas. That constrains where those areas can grow, and it is part of why established industrial property holds its value in this market.

  • Predominantly hardstand or vacant industrial land gears around 65%
  • A substantial building alongside the yard moves the valuation towards standard terms
  • Adjoining national park and environmental land limits where industrial areas can extend
  • Heavy vehicle access, turning circles and usable yard area feed the valuation
  • Environmental history matters where a site has carried a heavier use
  • Excavators, trucks and workshop plant are funded separately from the property

Coastal town retail, hospitality and practices

Every town from Berry to Ulladulla carries its own shops, cafes, pharmacies and practices, and these are conventional commercial premises reaching up to 80% of value. Hospitality is assessed on trading history rather than floor area, and accommodation on occupancy and average daily rate.

Seasonality is the constant here. Summer trade in the coastal towns is a great deal stronger than winter, which is entirely normal and entirely expected by a lender that writes this coast. Presenting a full year rather than a quiet quarter is all that is required.

  • Standard commercial security reaches up to 80% of value with full financials
  • Up to 100% of the purchase price is achievable with additional residential security
  • Hospitality premises with a liquor licence are assessed on trading history, not floor area
  • Accommodation is assessed on occupancy and average daily rate alongside the building
  • Practice income read across a service trust or company is where most of the work sits
  • Fit-out, medical equipment and practice goodwill can often be funded alongside the property

Holding a leased coastal property

Across a region of small separate towns, the size of the town matters as much as the lease itself. A shopfront in a centre with a dozen possible occupiers is a different security to one where the sitting tenant is realistically the only candidate, and a lender weighs that even when there are years left to run.

That is not an argument against the smaller villages, which have held their trade well. It is an argument for being specific in the application about who else could use the building and what the town actually supports, rather than leaving the credit team to guess from a population figure.

  • Priced on net passing rent, the tenant covenant and the weighted average lease expiry
  • How readily a property would re-let carries extra weight in a dispersed market
  • Wider regional yields generally make interest cover less binding than in the capitals
  • Lease doc lending runs 65% to 75% and steps down as the loan size rises
  • Full doc lending against the same security reaches up to 80%
  • Prepare recent financials, current loan statements, the lease and a rates notice

SMSF commercial property in Nowra

Yes, a fund can buy Nowra commercial property, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate purchases in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. The fund borrows under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, the property sits in a separate holding trust, and the lender can only come after that one property.

We know this sounds complicated, and we can assist to make things clearer. We structure the finance, tell you which lenders will take a Nowra commercial property as SMSF security and on what terms, and bring in the SMSF specialists and licensed advisers who set the fund side up. You will not be working it out on your own.

  • From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property: a property used wholly in a business generally qualifies, a property with a residence attached generally does not
  • Your operating company leases the property back from the fund, in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid
  • Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super, so the fund needs its own deposit and the 100% LVR structures described elsewhere on this page do not work here
  • Standard commercial security inside a fund is generally available to 65% to 80% of the lender's valuation, with cash left in the fund after settlement
  • The arrangement funds a single asset, so fit-out, plant and goodwill are financed separately outside the fund
  • The bare trust has to exist before contracts are signed, and in NSW the deed is executed after the contract, by the bare trust trustee rather than the fund trustee

Our complete list of services

  • Buy the premises your business operates from
  • Acquire a commercial property as an investment
  • Borrow up to 60% to 80% depending on the asset class
  • Finance medical, industrial, retail, office or hospitality property
  • Refinance an existing commercial loan
  • Release equity for growth or another purchase
  • Structure an SMSF commercial purchase
  • Fund a construction or development project
  • Arrange finance through a trust or company structure
  • Buy specialist assets like childcare or licensed venues
  • Free up your working capital
  • Bridge a settlement timing gap
  • Consolidate a commercial property portfolio
  • Move a property into super
  • Provide personal and home finance for owners
  • Support first-time commercial property buyers

The areas we service

We are based in the Sydney CBD and arrange commercial finance across the whole Shoalhaven. Most of the process runs by phone, email and video, and we present the catchment a property genuinely serves. The areas we cover include:

  • Nowra and around — South Nowra, Bomaderry, North Nowra, Worrigee, Nowra Hill, Terara
  • The northern Shoalhaven — Berry, Shoalhaven Heads, Gerringong, Kangaroo Valley, Cambewarra
  • Jervis Bay and the bay towns — Huskisson, Vincentia, Sanctuary Point, St Georges Basin, Callala Bay
  • The southern Shoalhaven — Ulladulla, Milton, Mollymook, Sussex Inlet, Burrill Lake, Lake Conjola

We also arrange buying commercial property in the Southern Highlands and commercial property loans in Wollongong.

Not on the list? We still cover it. We arrange commercial property finance right across Greater Sydney and NSW, and we work with clients Australia-wide.

Our process

How it works

1

We understand your scenario

We talk through the Shoalhaven property, the catchment your business actually serves, your timeline, and any complexity in your structure.

2

We find the right lender

We match your deal to the lender on our panel best suited to it for that asset and precinct.

3

You receive clear terms and guidance

We present indicative terms and explain what we recommend, and why.

4

We stay with you beyond settlement

We manage everything through to settlement, then stay in your corner well beyond it, with ongoing support from the team.

Lender features compared

How commercial property loans compare across lenders

Commercial loan feature Major banks Non-bank lenders Availability
Maximum LVR60% to 75%Up to 80%Standard
Owner-occupier financePreferred ratesAvailableCommon
SMSF purchaseUp to 65%Up to 70%Popular
Interest-only periodsUp to 5 yearsUp to 5 yearsCommon
Loan termUp to 25 to 30 yearsUp to 25 yearsFlexible
Lease / WALE (investment)Longer WALE preferredShorter WALE consideredImportant
Approval timeframe*3 to 6 weeks2 to 4 weeksVaries
Best suited forEstablished borrowers, standard assetsComplex structures, higher LVR, specialised assets

*IMPORTANT: These are indicative figures only. Terms, LVRs and approval timeframes vary with borrower capacity, security type and individual lender criteria, and are subject to change. Figures are a general guide, not a quote or an offer of finance, and not a representation that finance is available on these terms.

Frequently asked questions

We trade from a small town but service the whole coast. Does that count?

It does, so state it plainly in the application. A credit team will otherwise size the catchment from the town on the title. Where customers come from, how far your vehicles travel and what share of revenue is earned outside the town all speak to how resilient the income is, and that information is yours to supply.

How much can we borrow for a workshop at South Nowra?

Standard commercial and industrial security reaches up to 80% of value. Predominantly hardstand or vacant industrial land sits closer to 65%. Up to 100% of the purchase price is achievable where you add equity from a property you already own.

How much finance can you help me access?

From $50K up to $30M. Defence-adjacent and construction businesses in the Shoalhaven buy across the range, with the security and servicing setting the figure.

Our summer is much busier than our winter. Is that held against us?

No, and it is expected on this coast. Seasonal trade looks uneven on a monthly view, so we present a full year and let the pattern stand. Hospitality is assessed on trading history and accommodation on occupancy and average daily rate, both of which take seasonality as normal.

Is a broker who knows the Shoalhaven useful for this?

It helps here, because the region is a set of small separate markets under one council and a lender will not know which of them your business actually draws on. Ardent Capital Group is a commercial finance brokerage on Clarence Street, working in Nowra, throughout Sydney and Australia-wide.

Which industries do you finance in this region?

We fund all of these: engineering, machining and maintenance services, building and civil contractors, transport, retail and hospitality, accommodation, medical and allied health, pharmacies, childcare, professional firms, and investors holding tenanted stock. Lender appetite differs sharply across those, which is why we match the property to the lenders that write it.

Can this be done without coming to Sydney?

Yes. Commercial lending is not a branch business, the credit team assessing your file could be anywhere, and most of the process runs by phone, email and video. We come down when it helps. We know which lenders write Shoalhaven security properly.

What drives the rate on a commercial property loan?

A commercial rate is set per file rather than off a shelf price. It moves with the security and the income profile, the LVR, the loan size, the entity you borrow through, and whether the lender is verifying your full financials or just the lease. We will tell you the range your deal genuinely sits in before you spend anything, and where the levers are.

What is the stamp duty on commercial property in NSW?

Transfer duty is charged on the dutiable value of the property on the general NSW scale, and there is no owner-occupier or first-buyer concession the way there is on a home. Surcharge purchaser duty applies to residential-related property, so a purely commercial purchase is generally outside it. Duty and GST are funds you bring to settlement rather than part of the loan, so we set your funds-to-complete figure with you before you exchange. Revenue NSW publishes the current scale.

Most of our work is on a few large contracts. How is that viewed?

It is assessed on the terms and the remaining length of those contracts rather than treated as a weakness. Bring the agreements to the conversation. Accreditation, security clearances where relevant and a long operating record all count in your favour, and setting them out up front is better than having them drawn out over several rounds of questions.

Can we use our SMSF to buy the premises?

Yes, it is possible, and we arrange these. It is also one of the more intricate purchases in commercial finance, and the detail is what decides whether it works. The fund borrows under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, so the property sits in a separate holding trust and the lender can only come after that one property. From 10 August 2026 a new arrangement can only be used for business real property: a property used wholly in a business generally qualifies, a property with a residence attached generally does not. Your operating company leases the property back from the fund, in writing, at market rent supported by an independent appraisal, and the rent has to actually be paid. Cross-collateralisation is not available inside super, so the fund needs its own deposit and the 100% LVR structures described elsewhere on this page do not work here. Standard commercial security inside a fund is generally available to 65% to 80% of the lender's valuation, with cash left in the fund after settlement. We know this sounds complicated, and we can assist to make things clearer. Reach out to our team and we will guide you through the entire process. We structure the finance, tell you which lenders will take a Nowra commercial property as SMSF security and on what terms, and bring in the SMSF specialists and licensed advisers who set the fund side up. You will not be working it out on your own. Get that right and it is a solid, compliant structure. Our business real property page sets out what that test requires and the situations that decide it.

How quickly can a purchase go through?

A straightforward owner-occupier purchase with clean financials usually settles in four to six weeks, and can be as quick as two weeks where the documentation is ready at the start. Land-heavy sites, contract-based income files and SMSF purchases take longer. We give you a realistic timeline for your specific property before you commit to an exchange date rather than after.

The bank said no. Does that end it?

Often not. A decline from one lender does not mean the deal is not fundable, and in a dispersed market it frequently reflects a catchment the lender sized from the postcode. Non-bank and specialist commercial lenders take a different view on LVR, income presentation and asset type. We will give you a straight assessment before proceeding.

What does Ardent Capital Group actually do for us?

Ardent Capital Group brings the same method to every client: execution and strategy, clear advice for smart lending, and long-term growth. That means the right lender, structure and timing, straight advice so you borrow with confidence, and today's deal built toward where you want to be tomorrow. We are specialists in helping business owners secure finance to purchase their own property, and we understand the complex structures that often sit around it, including multiple trusts, holding companies and self-managed super funds. In the Shoalhaven that method earns its keep on the catchment. Showing a credit team the market a business genuinely serves, rather than the town it sits in, changes how the income is read. We have facilitated more than 1,000 commercial and residential mortgages and funded over $2B. Every figure is subject to serviceability, lender appetite and approval.

What documents will you want?

Identification, the contract or property details, recent business and personal financials, tax returns, bank statements, and details of your entity or trust structure. Contract-based work adds the agreements. A yard or land-heavy site adds the planning certificate and any environmental reports.

Do you charge fees for commercial mortgage broking?

Most of the time, no. Where a deal needs significant preparation or is unusually complex, a small mandate fee may apply, and we will always tell you plainly before any work begins.

What areas do you service?

Although we are based in Sydney, we service clients across all major Australian cities, including Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart, along with their surrounding regional areas. Wherever your commercial property is located, we can arrange your finance.

What other finance can you assist with?

Although our main speciality is property loans for business owners, we also assist with asset finance and working capital for Nowra businesses. On asset finance, that covers machining and workshop plant, excavators, trucks and fit-out. On working capital, we arrange business overdrafts, lines of credit and cash-flow funding to cover stock, supplier payments and cash-flow gaps. We also arrange home loans, planned alongside your commercial borrowing: cross collateralisation, guarantees, shortfalls and trust income included. See home loans for business owners.

I have been a business owner for a few years, but this will be my first commercial loan. Are you beginner friendly?

Yes. That is our core ethos, helping you understand the right strategy, structure and clear advice from the very first conversation. Our main borrower profiles are established business owners and commercial property investors seeking finance from $50,000 upwards for their company, so a first commercial loan is well within our wheelhouse. Smaller sole-trader and consumer-style ABN lending sits outside our field.

Can you give financial advice?

No. Arranging finance and advising on financial products are two different disciplines, and we do the first. What we bring is the credit analysis lenders require, the structuring of the facility, and the strategy for putting your application in front of lenders whose appetite matches it.

Because we act as a credit representative under an Australian Credit Licence, we do not give financial product, superannuation, taxation or legal advice, and nothing we provide should be taken as such. Where your circumstances need that input, we are happy to work with your accountant, financial adviser and solicitor to understand the full picture before anything is submitted.

The information on this page is general in nature and does not take account of your objectives, financial situation or needs.

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