CLK, JVM, Opus List Suburban Chicago Multifamily Assets

Three suburban multifamily landlords are looking to cash out, amid surging rental demand and steady rent growth.

Woodbury, New York-based CLK Properties has hired CBRE brokers to sell Courtyards on the Park, a 918-unit workforce housing complex in Des Plaines, Crain’s reported.

In separate listings, Oak Brook-based JVM Realty has tapped Berkadia to market the 310-unit Avant at the Arboretum apartment complex in Lisle, and Minnesota-based Opus Group also has CBRE seeking buyers for a 167-unit apartment complex in Downers Grove.

Even though high interest rates and tight lending standards have hindered multifamily sales in Chicago’s suburbs, the listed properties could garner strong interest due to a robust rental market.

Suburban Chicago’s multifamily market was nearly maxed out at the end of last year, with an occupancy rate of 97.3 percent, according to appraisal and consulting firm Integra Realty Resources. Suburban rents rose 5.4 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter.

CLK bought the Des Plaines property for $94 million in 2020, when it was a condominium building. CLK redeveloped the complex into rental units through condo deconversion, investing nearly $37 million in renovations.

The complex, located east of Interstate 294, has a 96 percent occupancy rate with an average monthly rent of $1,555, or $1.95 per square foot.

JVM Realty paid $67.2 million, or $216,774 per unit, for Avant at the Arboretum in 2017. It’s 94 percent leased, and average monthly rent stands at $2,060, or $2.23 per square foot.

Opus, meanwhile, developed the seven-story Dash Downers Grove apartment building, at 926 Maple Avenue, in May 2023. The property is about 91 percent leased, with an average monthly rent of $2,738, or $3.17 per square foot.

—Quinn Donoghue