A JMG Realty-led venture is putting on the market its 482-bed student housing complex near the University of Illinois at Chicago, hoping for significantly more than it paid just three years ago.
Karlton Jackson CEO of JMG Realty
Atlanta-based JMG Realty and New York-based Empire Square Group wants $65 million for the six-story building at 410 South Morgan Street, called Automatic Lofts, according to Crain’s. It paid $41.5 million for the century-old converted electrical gear factory in 2015.
Studio apartments now go for $1,720 a month, and $900 per bed in four-bedroom units. A listing by broker Newmark Knight Frank said a buyer would be able to raise rents by as much as 6 percent.
The building stands over the Eisenhower Expressway next to the UIC-Halsted CTA Blue Line station, a short walk from the university’s main quad. It’s also about a half-mile south of Fulton Market neighborhood.
Demand for student housing is expected to ramp up around the university, whose enrollment has ticked up by 15 percent since 2014.
A few blocks south of Automatic Lofts, Related Midwest is partnering with the city to build a public library with a 73-unit mixed-income apartment complex on top.
And on the other side of the University Village neighborhood, CityPads secured a permit for a 59-unit apartment building at 1407 West 15th Street.
The University of Chicago is also on a mission to expand its student housing. The school broke ground this year on a 1,309-bed dorm complex in Woodlawn. [Crain’s] — Alex Nitkin