Chicago developer Focus sells Lake Forest complex at record per-unit price

Strong tenant fundamentals at 111-unit Kelmscott Park Apartments will insulate new buyer Intercontinental Real Estate from risk

Focus’ Tim Anderson and the Kelmscott Park apartments in downtown Lake Forest
Focus’ Tim Anderson and the Kelmscott Park apartments in downtown Lake Forest

A Boston-based investment firm just paid $54 million for a multifamily development in Lake Forest, which makes it among the biggest investment-sale deals since the pandemic struck in March.

Intercontinental Real Estate acquired the 111-unit Kelmscott Park Apartments in Lake Forest from Chicago-based developer Focus, Crain’s reported. That pencils out to about $484,000 an apartment, a record price for the Chicago suburbs, according to Real Capital Analytics.

Focus, led by CEO Tim Anderson, developed the complex in 2018 and targeted well-off tenants. According to JLL data cited by Crain’s, Kelmscott Park’s new owners are in a strong position to weather the economic crises due to that tenant mix — the average tenant has an annual household income of about $320,000, and is over 50 years old.

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Intercontinental signed a contract to buy the property in March, before a statewide stay-at-home order went into effect, according to Crain’s. The investment firm owns an office building in the Fulton Market District and apartment buildings in Chicago.

The market-rate apartments at Kelmscott Park range from $2,251 per month for a one-bedroom unit to over $4,700 for a three-bedroom, Crain’s reported. Despite the uncertainty of a pandemic, Focus continues to develop in the greater Chicago area. It has projects ongoing in Lake and DuPage counties as well as an office building with Shapack Partners in Fulton Market. [Crain’s]James Kleimann