JDL Development is listing a recently-built 23-story River North apartment tower, aiming to attract an investor who wants in on the surging demand for downtown rentals.
The Chicago-based developer hired Moran & Co. to sell the 250-unit high-rise at 640 North Wells Street, according to Crain’s.
A person familiar with the building told Crain’s it could sell for $530,000 a unit, or $133 million. That would be the most expensive downtown apartment sale since April 2016, when a 198-unit building at 850 North Lake Shore Drive changed hands for $707,000 per unit.
The building is 94 percent leased, according to a Moran marketing flyer. JDL offered concessions to fill up the building, but has stopped as tenants renew, resulting in an average net increase of 5.7 percent in July and 6.1 percent in August, according to the flier.
Rents at recently-built downtown apartments in the first quarter of this year rose 2.3 percent year over year for an all-time high of $3.08 per square foot, even after developers in 2017 completed more than 4,300 apartments downtown, the most in a year, according to a report from consulting firm Integra Realty Resources.
But a second-quarter report from Marcus & Millichap showed apartment vacancy rates inching up, in part because of all the new inventory being delivered.
JDL in March listed its 29-story apartment building at 1000 South Clark Street, but took it off the market after being unable to get the $180 million it was seeking, JDL president Jim Letchinger told Crain’s. Now the developer is getting ready to start on its biggest project ever, the two-tower One Chicago Square development across from Holy Name Cathedral. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien