I am interested in purchasing a R&D building in southern CA and trying to find a commercial lender. Building cost is 2 million and would put 20% down and need to finance rest.
Any help would be appreciated.

Talk to your local banker.

Really, you should. Actually, talk to two or three.

I agree with the poster above. At 80% loan-to-value you are bankable by those bank-lenders that don’t mind that the property is an R&D property {by that I mean that while those kind of properties get higher rent, they usually have more tenant improvements, are more costly to construct, and are limited as to the type of tenants interested}.

Also at $2,000M, the loan is small enough to be financed by small community banks, which are in my opinion not really that good at identifying the risks associated with the loan.

If the property appraises at $2,000M, and you either have a tenant or your own company cash flows, it should be doable. On the other hand, no tenant and special purpose building makes it difficult.

What type of R&D? Please describe what industry R&D is done for. Assuming is on contractual basis. What exactly is done on property and if any special permits are needed i.e Biohazard Waste etc. Also what shape property is in now and what modification if any have been done to property to accommodate and tenants. Also, please specify if any areas are restricted i.e. some properties we are financing now have facilities that were doing R&D for department of defense and certain areas are off limits to appraisers and outside personnel.