Vista Property Buys John Buck’s River North apartments for $76M

Chicago developer the John Buck Company has sold a River North apartment tower for roughly the same amount as the loan on the property.

New York-based Vista Property has paid $76 million for the 245-unit 3Eleven apartments at 311 West Illinois Street, roughly five years after Buck completed the high-rise, Crain’s reported. That’s about $310,000 per unit.

The sale comes amid a sluggish year for multifamily sales, largely because high interest rates and a tough lending environment have deterred investors. Nationwide, apartment sales reached almost $106 billion through November, marking a 64 percent year-over-year decline. 

Even in Chicago, where apartment demand and rents continue to rise, this year’s sales volume of $3.2 billion is down considerably from the past two years, when it was closer to $5 billion, according to CoStar data.

The sale price of 3Eleven barely surpasses the $75 million that Buck took out on the property in 2018. However, Buck had already benefited from the property’s appreciation by refinancing a $54 million construction loan in 2016. 

In 2021, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi valued the building at over $73 million, marking a 24 percent increase from 2020, the outlet reported.

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Buck also has listed the 42-story Mila Chicago apartment building at 200 North Michigan Avenue. It’s the developer’s second attempt to sell the property.

Meanwhile, Vista’s Chicago portfolio includes three apartment buildings in Fulton Market, totalling 1,450 units. The firm is developing another apartment tower in River North, highlighting its bullishness on Chicago.

“We are big believers in Chicago’s multifamily market, its continued rent growth and strong demand. 3Eleven’s central location within the River North neighborhood offers a quality of life that is hard to top,” Vista principal Hymie Mishan told the outlet.

—Quinn Donoghue