Berkadia client looks to capitalize on strong multifamily market

A 248-unit apartment complex in Deerfield is up for grabs

15 Parkway North in Deerfield (Google Maps, Getty)
15 Parkway North in Deerfield (Google Maps, Getty)

A high-end apartment building in the Chicago suburb of Deerfield has hit the market as its owner looks to make bank on a booming multifamily market.

LaSalle Investment Management tapped Berkadia to find a buyer for a 248-unit Woodview Apartments, at the southwest corner of Deerfield Road and I-94, Crain’s reported. LaSalle acquired the property on behalf of a client more than six years ago.

There isn’t a publicly listed asking price for the complex, but the seller is hoping it will move for more than the $81.8 million LaSalle spent on it in 2016, given the current market conditions.

Built in 2015, the Woodview complex is located close to multiple office buildings with tenants that include Walgreens Boots Alliance, Baxter International, Horizon Pharmaceuticals and Discover Financial Services. Since demand for apartments is often driven by proximity to a high concentration of offices, Woodview is positioned to attract tenants.

The apartment complex also secured 155 new leases this year. The average apartment rented for more than 14 percent above expired leases, according to Berkadia.

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Multiple property owners are looking to cash in on the strong suburban multifamily market. In nearby Evanston, the Wirtz family, currently overseen by Chicago Blackhawks Chairman Rocky Wirtz, sold its entire five-building apartment portfolio for $35.3 million. The price breaks down to about $215,000 per unit.

Farther south, in Bensenville, San Francisco-based FPA Multifamily sold an apartment complex near O’Hare International Airport for $106 million, or $186,000 per unit. FPA had spent $75.3 million for the property in 2019.

Naperville is also betting big on high-end multifamily housing. The City Council approved a 212-unit apartment complex for the city’s far south side and a development of eight row houses near Rotary Hill.

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— Victoria Pruitt