Waterton ponying up $170M in South Loop, biggest resi deal in 2022

Price breaks down to about $343,000 per unit

801 South Financial Place, Waterton
801 South Financial Place (Alta Roosevelt, Getty)

A Chicago investment firm negotiated a $10 million discount for a South Loop apartment complex thanks to another buyer backing out.

Waterton is dropping $170 million for the 496-unit Alta Roosevelt, at 801 South Financial Place, Crain’s reported. That breaks down to about $343,000 per unit. The deal comes a few months after the building’s developer, Atlanta-based Wood Partners, agreed to sell the property to a joint venture of Skokie-based American Landmark Properties and Chicago-based Evergreen Real Estate Group for $180 million.

JLL represented the sellers. It’s unknown who represented Waterton.

Also unknown is why the first deal fell through, but even with the price adjustment, the sale price is on track to set the record for Chicago’s biggest single-property multifamily sale of the year.

In the Fulton River District, an affiliate of Ontario’s Morguard paid $133 million for Echelon Chicago, a 39-story high-rise at 353 North Desplaines Street, in the company’s fourth downtown multifamily acquisition of the year. That breaks down to almost $40,000 more per unit than the Alta Roosevelt

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In suburban Palatine, Oak Brook’s Albion Residential bought the 612-unit Bourbon Square complex at Lake Cook Road and Illinois Route 53 for just under $140 million.

Landlords are trying to capitalize on a strong multifamily market as multiple properties have hit the market recently. Downtown, Newmark has been hired to find buyers for three different multifamily properties. Brokers are seeking buyers for Next on the Near North Side, the Seneca in Streeterville and Emme in the West Loop.

Waterton has a portfolio that included more than $9 billion in real estate assets at the end of 2021. The firm owns almost 26,000 apartments across the country with apparent plans for more. The firm closed a $1.5 billion equity fund last year that has the capacity to invest more than $4 billion in apartment properties.

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Victoria Pruitt