Interforum Holdings plans a $92 million luxury apartment complex in Warrenville, hoping to cash in on the booming suburban apartment market.
The Northfield-based developer wants to start construction by the fall on the four-story, 364-unit Cantera Residences on Ferry Road, between the DuPage River, Torch Parkway and Winfield Road, CEO Alex Zdanov told the Chicago Tribune.
The project would take two years to complete, Zdanov said.
The 18-acre site was part of oil company BP’s office and research campus in Warrenville and neighboring Naperville.
Interforum last month secured a $60 million construction loan from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and another $16 million from Arbor Realty Trust, according to Colliers International. Jeffrey Donnelly and Dmitry Levkov of Colliers arranged the financing.
“Banks have been pulling back on construction loans all around the country,” Levkov told the Tribune. “Many believe it’s the late innings of this construction cycle, so banks are only going with (developers) they’ve done business with or they’re very carefully adding to their portfolios.”
Investors, though, haven’t appeared to encounter trouble financing suburban apartment deals in Chicago lately.
Compasspoint Development and Bayview USA Holdings are building a $64 million 212-unit apartment complex in suburban Des Plaines.
JPMorgan, meanwhile, spent $80 million on an Elk Grove Village complex, Dayrise bought a Hoffman Estates complex for $104 million and Azure Partners picked up a Wheeling complex for $72 million.
Others have refinanced their developments in order to take advantage of rising property values without giving up an investment property, including Forest City Realty Trust, which took out a $93 million refinancing on the 1,114-unit Pavilion apartment complex near O’Hare International Airport.
Origin Investments and Randolph Street Realty Capital landed a $36 million refinancing for a 262-unit Naperville apartment complex and Bayshore Properties secured a $26 million refinancing on the 354-unit Riverwoods Apartments complex in south suburban Lansing.
Suburban rents grew 6.9 percent last year and were expected to rise again “significantly” this year, according to a recent Marcus & Millichap report. [Chicago Tribune] — John O’Brien