Banks finance more commercial property than any other source — apartment buildings, retail, office, industrial and mixed-use — and most of them lend close to home, inside the footprint of their own branches. That is why a bank based in North Dakota, or one with branches near your property, is often a better first call than a national name. Expect a bank to want recourse and, usually, a banking relationship; if a personal guarantee is the sticking point, a debt fund or CMBS lender is the likelier fit — the capital guide compares them.
Banks Based in North Dakota, Largest Lenders First
10 of 17 North Dakota-headquartered institutions.
| # | Institution | CRE book | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bell Bank | $4.33bn | Contact available |
| 2 | First International Bank & Trust | $1.66bn | Contact available |
| 3 | Alerus Financial, National Association | $1.37bn | Contact available |
| 4 | Choice Financial Group | $1.16bn | Contact available |
| 5 | Bravera Bank | $556m | — |
| 6 | First Western Bank & Trust | $543m | Contact available |
| 7 | Western State Bank | $539m | — |
| 8 | Starion Bank | $464m | — |
| 9 | Gate City Bank | $402m | Contact available |
| 10 | Cornerstone Bank | $344m | — |
Banks Expanding Their Lending
Top 10 North Dakota-headquartered banks, ranked by growth after removing acquisitions. A bank adding to its book is actively quoting, which usually makes it readier to take on a borrower it has not lent to before. The bar shows each institution's growth rate as a share of the fastest grower's rate in this table — it is scaled to the percentage, not to the dollar change, so the largest dollar mover is not necessarily the longest bar.
| # | Institution | Growth excluding acquisitions | CRE book | Contact | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First State Bank | +24.5% | $86m → $106m | Contact available | |
| 2 | Gate City Bank | +19.8% | $335m → $402m | Contact available | |
| 3 | United Valley Bank | +18.1% | $108m → $128m | Contact available | |
| 4 | Dakota Community Bank & Trust, National Association | +14.8% | $124m → $142m | Contact available | |
| 5 | First International Bank & Trust | +14.4% | $1.45bn → $1.66bn | Contact available | |
| 6 | Bravera Bank | +14.0%† | $458m → $556m | Contact available | |
| 7 | Starion Bank | +12.8% | $412m → $464m | Contact available | |
| 8 | Unison Bank | +9.6% | $156m → $171m | Contact available | |
| 9 | Bell Bank | +7.8% | $4.02bn → $4.33bn | Contact available | |
| 10 | First Western Bank & Trust | +6.3% | $511m → $543m | Contact available |
† This bank acquired loans through a merger in Q4 2025. Those loans are in the closing book shown, and are excluded from the growth rate — so the rate is lower than the two balances by themselves imply.
National and Regional Lenders with Branches Here
Top 20 by CRE book size.
| # | Institution | CRE book | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wells Fargo Bank, National Association | $103.80bn | Contact available |
| 2 | U.S. Bank National Association | $41.71bn | Contact available |
| 3 | BMO Bank National Association | $20.67bn | Contact available |
| 4 | Old National Bank | $17.06bn | Contact available |
| 5 | First Interstate Bank | $5.91bn | Contact available |
| 6 | Bell Bank | $4.33bn | Contact available |
| 7 | First International Bank & Trust | $1.66bn | Contact available |
| 8 | Alerus Financial, National Association | $1.37bn | Contact available |
| 9 | Choice Financial Group | $1.16bn | Contact available |
| 10 | Dacotah Bank | $1.10bn | Contact available |
| 11 | Frandsen Bank & Trust | $608m | Contact available |
| 12 | Bravera Bank | $556m | — |
| 13 | First Western Bank & Trust | $543m | Contact available |
| 14 | Western State Bank | $539m | — |
| 15 | American Bank & Trust | $517m | — |
| 16 | Starion Bank | $464m | — |
| 17 | Gate City Bank | $402m | Contact available |
| 18 | Cornerstone Bank | $344m | — |
| 19 | Bank Forward | $298m | Contact available |
| 20 | BNC National Bank | $287m | — |
National institutions
These institutions also clear the state’s qualifying population test — at least one branch presence and a CRE book of $100m or more — but are not evaluated for state relationship-lending purposes and carry no contact: JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association .
Sources. 27 institutions qualified in North Dakota: at least one branch in the state (FDIC SOD 2025) and a CRE book of $100m or more. Figures below are institution-level and unprorated — a bank lending in multiple states shows its full CRE book on every state page where it qualifies, not a state-prorated share. FDIC Call Reports and FDIC Summary of Deposits. The qualifying population excludes de novo institutions, excludes any quarter carrying a >40% QoQ reversal in its CRE book, and requires a CRE book of $100m or more — no deposit-share floor is applied to the qualifying population. The page carries two CRE book size rankings drawn from that same qualifying population, on the same basis: one ranking the state’s largest CRE lenders regardless of where they are headquartered, one ranking the largest lenders headquartered in the state. An institution may appear in both. Growth is percent change over four quarters (30 June 2025 → 30 June 2026), excluding growth attributable to an FDIC-reported acquisition, subject to a $50m prior-quarter book floor; institutions whose book shrank over the window are excluded from the growth list. Institutions with a prior-quarter CRE book above $25bn are also excluded from the growth list — growth at that scale is a national balance-sheet movement, not lending concentrated in any one state, and would otherwise crowd out real local growth on thin-population states. This ceiling applies to the growth list only; the same institutions still appear on the CRE book size rankings above, which rank nationally by design. The growth list is limited to institutions headquartered in North Dakota, for the same reason: an out-of-state bank's rate is its nationwide growth, not its North Dakota lending, and FDIC does not report a state split. The size rankings are unrestricted — the page still lists every lender with a branch here.