Australian firms snag $117M loan for South Loop’s residential project

Cain International provided financing for the 41-story, 440-unit development in downtown Chicago

Theodore Weldon, Executive General Manager, Chicago, Development at Lendlease & renderings of South Loop residential project
Theodore Weldon, Executive General Manager, Chicago, Development at Lendlease & renderings of South Loop residential project

Two Australian companies landed a $117 million construction loan for a 41-story, 440-unit residential project in the South Loop.

Lendlease, a Sydney-based construction and infrastructure company, and Australian pension fund Aware Super got the financing from UK’s Cain International on the 513,000-square-foot project at 234 West Polk Street, the lender said Monday. Known as the Reed, the building is the second phase of Lendlease’s Southbank development, a $1.2 billion plan that will include up to 2,700 residential units, a riverwalk and a park.

Occupancy rates for downtown apartments jumped 94.5 percent in the second quarter, rebounding from a record low 86.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to Integra Realty Resources. Marcus & Millichap expects about 11,530 apartments to sprout by the second quarter of 2023, 80 percent more than the 6,643 units completed during the 12 months ended in June.

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The Reed, expected to be completed in two years, will have a mix of 224 apartments and 216 condominiums priced from $400,0000 to $1.4 million. The Cooper, Southbank’s first 29-story, 452-unit apartment building at 720 South Wells Street, was completed in 2018.

Lendlease and Aware Super are partners on a number of developments across the country, including a 482,700-square-foot, 14-story building in Brooklyn and a $600 million development in Los Angeles.