NB Private Capital picks up second Chicago student housing complex with $60M West Loop buy

NB Private Capital bought a student housing complex in the West Loop for $60 million, its second recent acquisition in Chicago’s student residence market.

California-based NB acquired the 477-bed Tailor Lofts at 315 South Peoria Street on Feb. 21, Cook County property records show.

Selling the property was Chicago-based Blue Vista, which acquired the building in 2007 for $16 million, property records show.

Blue Vista turned the former office building into student housing in 2010, partnering with Atlanta-based Place Properties on the $59 million conversion, Crain’s reported at the time. The project was financed with more than $10 million in historic tax credits, according to the report. The building was built in 1922.

Blue Vista put the building up for sale for $63 million in September 2016, seeking to cash out on a booming West Loop and a strong market for student housing in Chicago and elsewhere.

This is NB Private Capital’s second recent student housing acquisition in Chicago. In August, the private equity firm picked up the 27-story Buckingham student housing complex in the South Loop for $73.5 million.

Real estate funds raised $1.9 billion for student housing from January to July 2018 — the same amount as they raised in all of 2017. In November, a venture of Deutsche Bank bought a Loop student housing center for $76.8 million.

The Tailor Lofts building houses mostly students from nearby University of Illinois at Chicago. It is situated near the Blue Line and is close to the booming West Loop.

Representatives from Blue Vista and NB Private Capital did not immediately respond to requests for comment.