Bender Cos Assumes Low-Interest Loan in Chicago Multifamily buy

Bender Companies bought a North Side property after assuming a low-interest-rate loan.

The Chicago-based firm, led by founder Kurt Bender, bought the 110-unit apartment complex in Rogers Park for $16.8 million, CoStar reported. That’s $152,700 per unit. The deal marks Bender’s first acquisition in Chicago.

The property, now rebranded as Brix on Morse, is at 1340 West Morse Avenue near a Chicago Transit Authority Red Line station and Loyola University Chicago. The complex is 97 percent leased and comprises two adjacent five-story buildings built in the late 1960s.

The seller was Chicago-based Newcastle Investors, which bought the property for $5.8 million in 2007 and refinanced it with a $9.5 million loan in 2020, according to Cook County property records. Kiser Group’s Andy Friedman, Jake Parker and Danny Logarakis represented Newcastle in the sale.

Bender’s purchase was facilitated through an existing Fannie Mae loan with a 2.67 percent interest rate, a key selling point in a market where interest rates have skyrocketed in recent years.

It is the second such transaction for Bender, following its recent $28 million acquisition of Arrive Town Center in Vernon Hills, where it assumed a $16.8 million loan at a 4.59 percent interest rate.

Bender, in partnership with Florida-based private equity firm Eastham Capital, plans to focus on optimizing the property while benefiting from the long-term low-cost financing. The acquisition is Bender’s 14th acquisition in Illinois since 2019, adding to a portfolio that includes more than 2,900 units statewide.

As the real estate market continues to adjust to rising interest rates, multifamily deals with assumable debt are becoming more attractive.

Other notable transactions in the area that have been enhanced by assumable debt include FPA Multifamily’s $102 million acquisition of the Reserve at Hoffman Estates and the purchase of the Haven on Long Grove in west suburban Aurora for over $94 million by Standard Real Estate Investments and the Vistria Group.

— Andrew Terrell