Mapletree buys River North apartment tower, will convert into corporate housing

Mapletree Investments bought a River North apartment building for $91 million, with plans to turn it into corporate housing.

Singapore-based Mapletree acquired the 25-story tower at 220 West Illinois Street from Chicago developer Fred Latsko and Portland firm Gerding Edlen, according to Crain’s.

A subsidiary of Mapletree, Los Angeles-based Oakwood, will rent the building’s 188 apartments to business travelers and other extended-stay residents. Oakwood controls more than 40 extended-stay housing sites in Chicago and is looking to expand its local footprint, the company told Crain’s.

The corporate apartments will inhabit a River North neighborhood that has seen major growth in its office market driven by a wave of technology companies moving to the area. River North had the 14th sharpest growth in average office rent prices of any neighborhood in America from 2016-2018.

Latsko and Gerding Edlen first put the apartment tower up for sale in 2017, but it didn’t sell, Crain’s reported. They are not the only developers seeking to cash in on the demand for downtown rentals.

In July, JDL Development listed its recently delivered 23-story apartment tower at 640 North Wells Street. Around the same time, Moceri & Roszak began marketing its Lake Street apartment complex, looking for at least $136 million.

[Crain’s] — Joe Ward