Beitel is testing Chicago’s suburban multifamily market.
The New York-based investor hired Colliers’ Tyler Hague and Ryan Roegner to market The Preserve at Woodfield, a 622-unit apartment complex in Rolling Meadows.
The 1960s-era complex consists of over a dozen low-slung apartment buildings near the intersection of interstates 90 and 290. It’s 97 percent occupied and draws rents of about $1,600 per unit, according to marketing materials.
The sellers could receive a mixed-bag of offers. Rents have grown in Chicago’s multifamily market in recent years while the Sun Belt’s once-booming rental market slowed due to oversupply. Suburban Chicago rent growth is driven by the region’s strong job market and pipeline of college-educated workers as well as a slow down in construction limiting supply.
In a show of confidence in the region last month, multifamily giant Morgan Properties closed on a $501 million portfolio of 11 apartment buildings across the Midwest.
Even more recently, Wisconsin-based developer Continental Properties secured a buyer for Authentix McHenry, a 288-unit complex the company developed in McHenry County. A sale price has not been recorded yet.
But Beitel’s complex is located in Cook County, where an unpredictable property tax environment has been deterring some outside investors.
Commercial properties are not only taxed at a higher percentage of their value than residential properties — a longtime issue — but that the county’s recent tax reform attempts have also added unpredictability to the mix. Even as market values correct to reflect the impact of Covid, assessments haven’t adjusted at the same rate. Additionally, a whiplash effect from steep cuts in value allowed by the county’s board of review adds to the uncertainty.
It’s not all bad news for Cook County. Last month, Moceri & Roszak sold the 375-unit Fulbrix Apartments in Fulton Market for $170 million, marking the city’s largest apartment sale in nearly two years.