Wirtz family sells entire Evanston apartment portfolio for $35M

Wirtz Residential has owned the properties for more than 90 years

Rocky Wirtz with 910-16 Judson and 1000-10 Hinman Ave
Rocky Wirtz with 910-16 Judson and 1000-10 Hinman Ave (Getty, Realtor, Zillow)

The Wirtz family, which hasn’t sold any property in recent memory, is selling its entire apartment portfolio in Evanston.

Wirtz Residential has agreed to unload five buildings in southeast Evanston to North Park Ventures for $35.3 million, Crain’s reported. The price breaks down to about $215,000 per unit.

The family has owned the 164-unit vintage apartment portfolio that’s west of South Boulevard Beach for more than 90 years. The business is currently overseen by Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz and includes real estate holdings on Chicago’s North Side, the United Center and an office tower in New East Side.

With occupancies and rents on the rise for suburban apartments, owners have been able to sell similar properties for sizable profits.

The portfolio sale, which hasn’t officially closed yet, was a rare opportunity for an investor to buy a lot of properties within a small area in a single transaction.

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The properties included in the sale are a 41-unit building at 605-617 Hinman Avenue, a 39-unit property at 1000-1010 Hinman Avenue, a 40-unit building at 800-810 Michigan Avenue, an 18-unit property at 929-935 Michigan Avenue and a 26-unit building at 910-916 Judson Avenue.

North Park plans to invest a total of $42.2 million in the properties, including renovations. It plans to put about $1.1 million in equity into the buildings and raise $10 million through CrowdStreet, a crowdfunding platform hired to seek investors for the deal. North Park will borrow about $31.1 million for the rest of the capital.

North Park, which specializes in buying multifamily properties in need of renovations to improve them and increase rents, owns more than 1,100 apartments in and around the Chicago metro.

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Victoria Pruitt