ZOM seeks buyers for West Loop apartment complex

A large West Loop apartment complex is hitting the market amid the neighborhood’s residential development boom.

Florida-based developer ZOM Living hired CBRE’s John Jaeger and Justin Puppi to find buyers for Union West, a 15-story, 357-unit luxury high-rise at 939 West Washington Boulevard.

Built in 2018 with a $92 million construction loan, the property is one of several newer upscale housing options for the booming West Loop, alongside The Row — which Related Midwest developed for about $112 million according to city permit data — and buildings called Fulbrix and One Six Six.

Rents at Union West range from about $3,500 to $3,700 for a one-bedroom, $4,100 to $7,600 for a two-bedroom and up from $4,800 for a three-bedroom — making it pricier than two other large apartment complexes that recently changed hands. Sellers also tapped CBRE to broker sales of 240-unit Xavier Apartments for $81 million and the 329-unit Lake and Wells Building for $98 million.

Among Chicago’s highest price-per-unit apartment complex sales of last year was a West Coast firm’s purchase of Evo Union Park in the West Loop, which was a $104 million deal coming out to $428,000 per unit. Echelon Chicago in the Fulton River District was close behind, selling for $133 million, or about $380,000 a unit.

While high interest rates have challenged multifamily investors and forced them to pay close attention to the Federal Reserve’s next move when it meets next week, strong occupancy levels show there’s plenty of demand for West Loop living. Occupancy has held up even though rent growth for Class A apartment buildings slowed in Chicago last quarter

The downtown occupancy rate was 94.4 percent last quarter, according to data from appraisal and consulting firm Integra Realty Resources. Almost 1,100 apartments are slated for completion in the West Loop this year, and 2,300 more are expected to open in 2024, per Integra.

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