JDL takes out massive loan on River North rental building it listed last year

JDL Development appears to be having second thoughts about selling its apartment building in River North, opting instead to take out a massive loan on the property.

Chicago-based JDL in late May took out a $637.7 million mortgage on the 23-story rental building at 640 North Wells Street, Cook County property records show. Prudential provided the loan.

Last summer, JDL hired Moran & Co. to market the 250-unit building for sale, seeking bids of up to $133 million. If it sold at that price, it would have been the third biggest multifamily sale of 2018.

It is unclear if JDL is still seeking a buyer for the building. Moran & Co. does not list the property on its website of available buildings.

It’s also unclear if the loan is secured by more than just the 640 North Wells property. A spokesperson for JDL did not respond to a request for comment.

JDL delivered the apartment building in 2017, the same year developers completed more than 4,300 apartments Downtown, the most in a year. The elevated deliveries do not appear to have hurt the property, which was 94 percent leased when it was listed for sale last summer.

In March of last year, JDL listed for sale its 29-story apartment building at 1000 South Clark Street for $180 million, but took it off the market after failing to get its price. In October, a venture of JDL and Harlem Irving Companies listed a 269-unit luxury apartment building in Lakeview.

Not far from 640 North Wells, JDL recently broke ground on its $850 million One Chicago Square project, which will feature 795 apartments, 75 condos, retail and more.

Despite the recent building boom, Chicago’s Downtown apartment market is humming along. Rents in Class A buildings hit a record $3.26 per square foot in the first quarter of 2019, up nearly 6 percent year over year.