Rockwell Partners completes deconversion of huge suburban resi complex

Rockwell Partners completed the deconversion of a 1,156-unit suburban residential complex with the $28.4 million purchase of 429 condos.

It was the third deal in five years the Chicago investor executed to completely take over the Stonegate complex in Glendale Heights, with the intention of turning it completely to rental units. It marked the biggest Chicago-area deconversion to date in terms of number of units, according to Crain’s. It was also the latest in a long line of condo deconversions in the Chicago area, as developers look to cash in on the hot rental market.

In 2005, Inland Group bought the complex at Gregory Avenue and Glen Ellyn Road for $70.5 million, converting 736 of the units to condos. But the Oak Brook-based firm was stuck with a number of unsold condos after the recession hit.

Rockwell in 2013 bought 420 of what were then condos for $26.7 million. Then in 2017, it paid $14 million for 307 more unsold condos. It bought out the remaining 429 condo owners last month.

The firm plans to spend $5.5 million in the next three years fixing up the complex, which company execs believe could be worth $110 million as one single apartment complex.

While Rockwell’s Stonegate deal is the largest so far in terms of number of units, the most expensive deconversion to date has been ESG Kullen’s bulk purchase of the condo building at 1400 North Lake Shore Drive in the Gold Coast in August for $112 million. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien