Two of Chicago’s top developers offloaded a key piece of the skyline.
Sterling Bay and Magellan Development Group sold the multifamily and retail portions of Millie on Michigan, a 47-story tower at 300 North Michigan Avenue, to Cedar Street and Kayne Anderson Real Estate, CoStar reported.
The price was not disclosed, but the sale added to the uptick in Chicago’s multifamily trading volume, which brought sales to $1.8 billion through midyear.
Construction on the project started early in the pandemic, backed by a capital stack including Bank OZK, Pearlmark, Monroe Capital, Wanxiang America and crowdfunding from CrowdStreet.
The developers sold the tower’s 280-room hotel to Dutch hospitality brand citizenM for $75 million in 2022 and refinanced the rest of the development with $210 million from JPMorgan.
Cedar Street and Kayne Anderson are buying 289 apartment units, reportedly 96 percent leased as of January, and 25,000 square feet of vacant retail at the tower’s base.
The purchase is a departure from Cedar Street’s usual strategy, which leans heavily on adaptive reuse and ground-up development over trophy acquisitions. Kayne Anderson, meanwhile, has been expanding its multifamily portfolio and is already circling other major projects amid Chicago’s low-inventory apartment market.
Other high-profile apartment deals in the city this year include the $170 million sale of the Fulbrix tower in Fulton Market, the priciest multifamily transaction since 2023. Several other big assets are still on the market as investor appetite for urban high-rises shows signs of recovery.
CBRE marketed the property and brokered both deals. John Jaeger, Justin Puppi, Jason Zyck and Danny Zeboski handled the multifamily side; Christian Williams, Michael Wilson, Ryan Knutson and Luke Molloy oversaw the retail sale.
Sterling Bay called the tower “a stunning example of modern luxury” and a milestone for the firm even as it turns its attention to other developments, including the long-stalled Lincoln Yards, where Kayne Anderson has also shown interest as a future partner.
— Judah Duke
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