UBS Realty Investors unloads River North apartments for $94M

UBS Realty Investors unloaded a River North apartment building for $94.2 million as the downtown investment market makes a comeback.

Dallas, Texas-based Lincoln Property bought the 171-unit Bernardin at 727 north Wabash Avenue on Sept. 30, Cook County property records show. CBRE represented UBS Realty.

UBS was eyeing a $100 million price when it listed the property in June. It paid $89.4 million for it in late 2005, a year after the building opened.

Bernardin’s sale comes as Chicago’s downtown rental market heats up. Renters absorbed almost 9,900 units between April and June, the strongest quarter for leasing in more than 10 years, according to Marcus & Millichap. The downtown apartment occupancy rate climbed to 94.5 percent during the same period, pushing asking rents back to pre-pandemic levels in July.

The occupancy rate for the 24-story building was 99 percent according to CBRE’s flier in June. Its 21,000 square feet of retail was also fully leased at the time of the listing.

Downtown landlords have been cashing out. Multifamily investor Waterton has a preliminary agreement to buy the 608-unit Tides at 360 East South Water Street and the 548-unit Shoreham at 400 East South Water, in a deal that could be valued at $400 million. Waterton also put a 400-unit property at 320 West Illinois Street on the market this month. While the asking price isn’t known, last year’s appraisal valued the building at $140 million. San Francisco-based FPA Multifamily bought McClurg Court Center, a 1,061-unit complex in Streeterville, for $175 million.

Lincoln Property Company paid $169 million for a 152,000-square-foot office complex in Baldwin Hills, California, marking the third-largest office deal in L.A. County last year.

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