Fulton Market Apartment Tower Sells for $170 Million

Moceri & Roszak sold a Fulton Market apartment development for $170 million, marking the city’s largest apartment sale in nearly two years and a multifamily win after the firm’s struggle in the office sector.

A venture of New York-based Normandy Real Estate acquired the 27-story, 375-unit Fulbrix Apartments at 160 North Elizabeth Street from its developer, Moceri & Roszak, and equity partner Ares Management, Crain’s reported. The price comes to $453,000 per unit

Eastdil Secured brokers Bryan Rosenberg and Donald Kelly represented the sellers. The buyers scored a $120 million Fannie Mae loan originated by Greystone’s Eric Rosenstock and Jesse Yodice. It’s a 10-year loan term with seven years of interest-only payments.

The deal marks one of the first major apartment trades in the city this year following another New York investor, Tishman Speyer’s $114 million deal for Elevate Lincoln Park in January. It’s the biggest multifamily transaction in Chicago since the North Water Apartments sold for $173 million ($435,000 per unit) in June 2023.

Supply has tightened in Fulton Market, and rents are expected to climb further amid limited deliveries.

Moceri & Roszak completed the building in 2023. The buyer, Normandy Real Estate, is reportedly connected to the group that purchased McDonald’s global headquarters in Fulton Market back in 2020, which was a high-profile vote of confidence in the corridor’s long-term potential.

Moceri & Roszak had less luck with the 210,000-square-foot office building it developed at 145 South Wells Street, which was delivered in January 2020, right before the office market fell off a cliff. Fortress was working to seize the property via deed-in-lieu of foreclosure last summer; $57 million in debt tied to the building was set to mature in December.

Downtown Chicago’s luxury apartment rents rose 2.56 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter, reaching $3.60 per square foot, according to Integra Realty Resources. Analysts expect rents to grow by as much as 4 percent this year, with fewer than 300 units slated for delivery, a historically low figure for the market.

That scarcity may continue to buoy sales like this one, especially in top-performing neighborhoods like Fulton Market, where walkability and proximity to jobs have kept leasing demand strong despite macroeconomic headwinds.

— Judah Duke