Crescent Heights lands $65M mezzanine loan on NEMA Chicago

KKR Global provides financing on 76-story tower through KREST fund

KKR's Billy Butcher with NEMA Chicago (KKR, NEMA)
KKR's Billy Butcher with NEMA Chicago (KKR, NEMA)

Crescent Heights closed on a $65 million mezzanine loan on NEMA Chicago as part of a refinancing plan for the 76-story luxury high rise, Chicago’s tallest multifamily building.

NEMA Chicago is the first real estate debt investment of KKR Real Estate Select Trust, or KREST, part of KKR Global, the firm said in a statement. Miami-based Crescent Heights has a history with KKR financing for NEMA Chicago, which opened its 800-unit luxury building in 2019.

As the $300 million skyscraper at the south end of Grant Park in the South Loop was welcoming its first tenants then, Crescent Heights refinanced the original construction loan with a $340 million loan from KKR Real Estate Finance Trust. That loan paid off a previous $328 million KKR loan, giving Crescent Heights a chunk of the equity and a lower interest rate.

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KREST, a closed-end fund that also holds equity investments in stabilized real estate and single-tenant properties, said the “strong relationship” with Crescent Heights was behind the new loan. The transaction helped “enhance and further diversify our portfolio with NEMA Chicago,” said Billy Butcher, CEO of KREST and COO of KKR Global.

Bank OZK gave Crescent Heights the go-ahead to break ground with a $203 million construction loan in 2017. The tower, with views of Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain and the Willis Tower, boasts amenities that include indoor and outdoor pools, high-end fitness facilities, conference meeting spaces and tenant lounges.

Monthly rents range from $1,866 for a studio apartment to $25,000 for a penthouse. Two beds and two baths run from roughly $4,000 to $6,500. A four-bedroom, four-bath unit will set a renter back about $14,000 a month.