I think there have been good commercial reasons for decades. The problem isn't inherent to the task, the problem has been legislative and regulatory uncertainty. The only way around that would be operating from a more open jurisdiction (difficult due to so many of your potential workers being banned from working with you due to ITAR) or having so much personal wealth that you can afford to take the risk, which is the path it seems to be happening on.
The moon is an excellent source of raw materials for orbital work: silicon, oxygen, aluminum, and potentially the rare earths also needed to turn these into communication satellites and solar power satellites. We're on the cusp of being able to do these things entirely through automation and occasional remote operation, but it would have likely been profitable to do it with on-site humans in the 80s if political fear hadn't gotten in the way.
