Lincoln Park apartment developer refinances Elevate complex

Baker Development Group refinanced its Elevate Lincoln Park apartment complex, about a year after the complex opened.

Greystone, a New York-based real estate investment firm, extended the $78.6 million loan on the 191-unit mixed-use complex, according to Cook County property records. The fixed-rate loan was backed by Fannie Mae, according to HFF, which represented Baker in the refinancing.

It was one of the last major loans arranged by HFF before the brokerage was officially absorbed by JLL on July 1.

Baker saw its first tenants move into the V-shaped Elevate complex at 930 West Altgeld Street in spring 2018, seven years after it first acquired the block-sized property. It broke ground on the complex in November 2016.

The 11-story complex was built to include 16,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and Baird & Warner moved its Lincoln Park offices its ground floor earlier this year. Tenants also have access to about 20,000 square feet of amenity space, including an outdoor pool and a “rooftop wellness area.”

Studio apartments rent starting around $1,800 per month, according to the building’s leasing website. The largest available unit, a 1,430-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment, is advertised around $5,400 per month.

Building Lincoln Park’s “first new residential high-rise” in decades helped Baker stand out among other landlords looking for tenants and lenders, JLL senior managing director Danny Kaufman said.

“Due to the scarcity of large developable parcels and a historically difficult approvals process, the barriers to entry in the submarket are high, which will help ensure the property’s competitive advantage well into the future,” Kaufman said, according to a press release.

But Elevate was dwarfed this year by McCaffery Interests’ 750-unit Lincoln Common development, whose twin 20-story apartment buildings opened this spring.

Representatives of Baker Development Group and Greystone did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday.