Crescent Heights is getting in on Chicago’s condo deconversion trend, turning all the units in a South Loop tower into rentals.
The Miami-based developer bought 205 of 248 condos in the 30-story Astoria Tower at 8 East Ninth Street in 2010, and it’s now in the process of acquiring the rest of the units to turn the entire building into rentals, according to Crain’s.
Crescent Heights had been renting out the units it already owned in the building, and now is deciding to fully cash in on Chicago’s hot apartment market.
A condo deconversion requires approval of 75 percent of a building’s ownership, but Crescent Heights already controlled 83 percent of the building. Condo owners in the Astoria Tower officially rubber-stamped the deconversion earlier this year, and Crescent Heights has closed on all but 18 of the units it didn’t already own, according to Crain’s. It expects to finalize deals for those units by the end of July.
The developer will face plenty of competition for renters in the South Loop, where thousands of new apartments are coming online in the next few years — including in Crescent Heights’ own 900-unit NEMA Chicago tower. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien