Continental Pays Wingspan $78M for Plainfield Apartments

Chicagoland developer Wingspan Development Group sold its sprawling luxury multifamily development in the southwest suburbs for $78.4 million in an off-market deal, it said Tuesday.

Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin-based Continental Properties last week bought the 284-unit complex at 14750 Wallin Drive in Plainfield, 40 miles Southwest of Chicago for a little more than $276,000 per unit. The sale price represents a 30 percent increase in value from the project’s $60 million reported cost when Wingspan began pre-leasing for the property in 2021, Will County records show.

Continental bought the property with a $51 million loan from New York-based Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company of America, according to public records. Northmarq’s Alex Malzone, Parker Stewart and Dominic Martinez of Northmarq brokered the property sale.

Malzone said Continental has been focused on its own new construction projects over the past few decades, so the acquisition of a recently completed property represents a pivot.

“Given the recent surge in interest rates and extremely high construction costs for new developments, Continental recently launched an opportunistic fund to solely focus on acquisitions in markets it’s looking to grow in,” Malzone said in a statement.

While plotting the development, Mount Prospect-based Wingspan bet that high-end rental housing would make for a strong addition to an area of the suburbs where the single-family housing market has been more dominant.

“But as evidenced by our strong leasing numbers, there is an undeniable demand for the lifestyle and amenities offered by Sixteen30, with interest from young professionals to empty nesters,” Wingspan’s Christopher Coleman said.

Chicago’s suburban rental market has seen a rise in rent rates with rent prices up 13.4 percent by fourth quarter 2023 compared to the same time in 2021, according to data released this year from Integra Realty Resources. Rents are expected to rise another 4 to 5 percent in 2024, Integra’s report said.

Sixteen30 has eight garden-style buildings and a mix of studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from 600 to 1,500 square feet. The complex was 95 percent occupied when it was sold last week, giving it the “highest retention rate” of Wingspan’s actively leasing projects, according to the release. The development also has a pool and 7,500-square-foot clubhouse.

Continental is also working with Deutsche Bank affiliate DWS to complete a 254-unit apartment project in north suburban Deerfield, while Wingspan’s other suburban Chicago apartment developments include a three-property portfolio in its home base of Mount Prospect that total more than 300 units that the developer just hired a broker to sell.

Wingspan also scored a $100 million construction loan last year for a 300-unit Skokie project.