TLC Management Pays $100 Million for Vernon Hills Apartments

TLC Management purchased a Vernon Hills apartment complex for $100 million, marking the biggest suburban multifamily trade so far this year.

Investor Stuart Handler’s Chicago-based company acquired The Mil’Ton, a 294-unit, three-building property at 1155 Museum Boulevard, from financial services firm Mesirow, according to property records first reported by CoStar News. The price amounts to $340,100 per unit.

Mesirow bought the asset in 2018 for $87.1 million and listed it in March with CBRE brokers John Jaeger, Justin Puppi, Jason Zyck, Jillian Jaeger and Tricia Carolan.

The firm rebranded the property as The Majestic Luxury Apartments after a round of amenity renovations that included the clubhouse, gym, coworking areas, yoga space and pool. The seven-story complex, built in 2004, is 94 percent occupied with asking rents averaging nearly $3,000 a month.

The deal underscores how suburban Chicago has become a magnet for large-scale trades in recent months. A development slowdown has buoyed rents, making the metro the No. 2 market in the U.S. for rent growth, according to CoStar. That rent strength fueled a string of blockbuster sales late last year, including a record $148 million deal for the 352-unit E2 in Evanston, a $109 million trade for Naperville’s 417-unit Railway Plaza, and a $101 million-plus sale of the 306-unit Wheaton 121.

So far this year, investors have poured $2.4 billion into Chicago-area multifamily, compared with $3.9 billion for all of last year, a figure boosted by the late-2024 flurry. The Vernon Hills acquisition shows momentum hasn’t cooled, even as the development pipeline shrinks.

Mesirow is doubling down on multifamily. The firm announced in May it had raised $1.25 billion for a new national apartment fund, a 66 percent increase, with plans to target top-tier markets across the U.S.

TLC has been equally aggressive. In addition to the Vernon Hills pickup, it recently paid $60 million for the 192-unit Top of the Mount in Mount Prospect, adding to a sprawling suburban portfolio.

— Eric Weilbacher