Arlington Heights condos deconverted for $10M

Arlington Heights is losing more owner-occupied condos to investors who have turned them into rentals.

For the second time in a month, a condo building went through a so-called deconversion sale for $9.7 million as a buyer made an offer bulk purchase accepted by unit owners holding at least 75 percent of the property’s full value, the Daily Herald reported.

Interra Realty’s Patrick Kennelly and Paul Waterloo brokered the deal for the 40-unit condo building at 1 North Chestnut Avenue. They represented both the buyer, who hasn’t yet been identified, and the property’s condo association in the negotiations.

The deal comes out to about $242,500 per unit, which, according to a statement from the brokerage that cited CoStar data, makes it the second-priciest sale price per unit of an Arlington Heights building in the past five years.

Interra also negotiated another condo deconversion sale in the village last month when the 34-unit building at 202-222 North Salem Avenue sold for $4.1 million, as a slow condo market stretches into a new year in the Chicago area while buildings structured as traditional apartments hold more value due to surging area rents than the collective value of the same units as condos.

The Chestnut complex has 21 one-bedroom apartments and 19 two-bedroom units. The buyer plans to renovate the property and update the apartments.

Kennelly expects more condo deconversions to take place in suburbs such as Arlington Heights, which he said has gained allure with investors in part due to the Chicago Bears plans to redevelop the shuttered Arlington International Racetrack into a new stadium and entertainment district to the tune of $5 billion. The NFL team is under contract to the property for $197 million from Churchill Downs.

The Chestnut building is also located across the street from the proposed $150 million Arlington 425 campus with commercial and residential space.

That project’s developer, Bruce Adreani of Norwood Builders, slashed the number of residences from 361 to 319 as well as the amount of commercial office space from 43,800 square feet to 7,900 last year while struggling to get the building financed, according to previous reports. Though Arlington 425 would still be the second-largest project in the suburb in decades, after the Bears project should it go forward.

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