Multifamily owners across multiple Chicagoland counties have pulled the trigger on selling long-held assets as of late.
Most recently, Chicago’s Essex Realty Group brokered the sales of the 91-unit Wellington Creek Apartments south of Ogden Avenue in the DuPage County village of Lisle for $11.5 million, as well as the 56-unit Forest View Apartments at 2900 Lincoln Avenue in Cook County’s North Riverside for $7.2 million.
The latter had been owned by the family of its original developer for more than 60 years, making this the property’s first sale. The Lisle apartment complex last sold in 2005, Essex’s Brian Karmowski told The Real Deal. The buyers are local private investors, and Karmowski declined to identify them.
“The time was right,” Karmowski said. “It’s been a little choppy lately with interest rates but the demand is still pretty strong.”
From the city to the suburbs, multiple long-term owners have moved on from family assets this year, including sellers tied to an Indianapolis 500 champion of a rare Lincoln Park property that had been in the family for more than 80 years. The Wirtz family, owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, also sold an Evanston apartments portfolio for $35 million.
Deals involving large multifamily properties the size of the Lisle complex don’t come up often outside of Cook County, Karmowski, who was the only broker on the Lisle deal, said. A handful of area trades are as big or bigger per year, he said. Both were off-market sales to local private investors, Karmowski said.
The sale price of the Lisle property, which covers six acres, reflects a price per unit of almost $127,000 and a cap rate, a measure of rental income after expenses divided by a property’s purchase price, of 5.4 percent at closing. The complex’s new owner plans to rehabilitate the property to add value, according to Essex.
DuPage County is a desirable area of Chicagoland for investors because it attracts buyers locally and from across the country.
The North Riverside sale reflects a cap rate of 4.5 percent. Essex’s Brian Kochendorfer represented the seller while Karmowski represented the buyer on this deal. The complex was built in 1962.