Exposition Residential Bought Another Chicago Apartment Asset

Out-of-state investors keep coming for what is left to buy in Chicago’s tight rental market.

Houston-based Exposition Residential acquired the Scott Residences apartment building in Chicago’s Near North Side, Crain’s reported.

The firm paid about $32 million for the six-story, 71-unit property at 211 West Scott Street, according to Cook County property records. The price was $450,700 per unit. The seller was a joint venture between local firms JDL Development and Harlem Irving Companies, which delivered the building in 2014 and refinanced it a year later with a $27.8 million mortgage.

The building includes nearly 9,300 square feet of ground-floor retail and a unit mix ranging from studios to three-bedrooms. Asking rents start at $2,388 for studios, and the building is about 97 percent occupied, according to the property’s website. The Scott Residences deal was brokered by JLL’s Kevin Girard, Mark Stern and Zach Kaufman, who marketed the building on behalf of the sellers.

The acquisition is the latest in a string of Chicago multifamily buys. Exposition purchased a 141-unit River West property for $42.1 million in late 2023, followed by a $75.7 million West Loop apartment tower deal last September. The company did not comment on its plans for the Scott Residences.

Its buying streak highlights a broader trend: out-of-state investors looking to deploy capital in cities with limited apartment supply and rising rents. Chicago’s development pipeline has slowed sharply in recent quarters due to rising construction costs and capital market headwinds, helping drive rent growth even as Sun Belt cities with looser supply saw declines. Rent growth in Midwestern cities has outpaced many coastal and Sun Belt peers, according to Yardi Matrix.

In the first quarter, net monthly rent at Class A buildings in downtown Chicago jumped 6.25 percent year-over-year, according to Integra Realty Resources.

— Judah Duke