A venture tied to Chicago real estate investor Jill Sickle spent $24.5 million to buy JAB Real Estate’s mixed-use development in Old Town.
The venture bought the property known as The Northland, a six-story building at 1550 North Wieland Street that has 61 apartments and ground-floor commercial space, property records show. The commercial space includes the Two Lights Seafood & Oyster Co. restaurant.
The American Family Life Insurance Company financed the deal with a $13.1 million loan, records show.
JAB listed the building in June, hoping to cash in on the high demand for rental units Downtown. The developer hired Essex Realty Group to market the property and listed at $25.6 million.
“When can I buy a new construction building in Old Town? It doesn’t come up that often,” said Jim Darrow, principal at Essex.
In March 2016, JAB paid $5.8 million for the property at 1550 North Wieland, which at the time was a three-story building with 24 apartments and ground floor retail. JAB tore down that building and replaced with the transit-oriented property it just sold.
Two entities controlled by Sickle bought the property on Dec. 3, county records show. Sickle is principal and founder of Hanover Hamilton Investments, a multifamily property investment firm, and is co-founder and principal of Back Nine Apartments, which specializes in investments that use a clause in IRS code to defer capital gains taxes.
Sickle did not return a request for comment.
Old Town is seeing its fair share of development. One block from the complex it just sold, JAB is building 12-unit, six-story condominium building at 1553 North Wells Street.
Across the street from JAB’s newest development is site of CIM Group and Golub & Co.’s “1550 on the Park,” a 20-story, 32-unit condo building.