The multifamily momentum kept rolling in Mount Prospect this month with the $60 million sale of the Maple Street Lofts.
TLC Management’s Stuart Handler bought the 192 unit property for $60 million or about $312,000 per unit from developer Wingspan Development Group. Handler is a well known player in Chicago’s commercial real estate community and is the namesake of the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Handler Department of Real Estate.
The transaction brings the spotlight back to the Chicago suburb Mount Prospect, where six multifamily developments have opened in the past five years, adding nearly 600 units downtown. The local Lowe and Papanicholas families have been leading the charge. The Papanicholas family owns Wingspan Development.
Wingspan brought 330 rental units to the northwest Chicago suburb while Tom Lowe’s partnerships — consisting of Jeff Brown’s T2 Capital Management, Norridge-based Harlem Irving Companies and Itasca developer Hamilton Partners — contributed 265 units across three developments.
Although the projects initially drew opposition from local residents, town officials have said those fears have been assuaged, and the developments have spurred economic growth. A grocery store, restaurants and nightlife venues have all opened since the apartments took shape.
Chicago’s suburbs have seen an influx in interest from investors as the region’s rent growth climbs. Although the city of Chicago has its own appeal, investors have been drawn in by property tax policies in the outer suburbs that are seen as more favorable than those in Cook County.
Regardless of the push-pull dynamic between the city and the suburbs, Handler has remained active in the market at large.
Earlier this month, Handler sold a 136-unit apartment building on the South Side, at 4817 South Drexel Boulevard. Jeremy Bronfman’s Lincoln Avenue Communities snagged the property for $31 million or about $227,000 per unit.