Continuum Capital Buys Evanston Site for Apartment Tower

Multifamily developers are getting their ducks in a row in Chicagoland, overcoming a tight market for raising equity and landing loans to take advantage of a limited construction pipeline.

Will Hunter and Evan Meador’s firm Continuum Capital became the latest to take major steps toward getting a project out of the ground this week with a $31.2 million acquisition of Church Street Plaza in downtown Evanston, a retail center eyed for redevelopment into a 27-story, 358-apartment tower. The deal was funded by a $26.5 million loan from Wheaton-based lender T2 Capital.

The firm bought the property with plans to later team with Aaron and Amy Galvin’s firm Luxury Living, if Evanston officials approve the redevelopment, which has been under consideration for months. Continuum bought the 145,000-square-foot property from an affiliate of retail developer Mitch Goltz, who acquired it in 2019 by assuming the remainder of a loan that a previous owner had taken out on the building. Goltz renovated the property and began leasing it up, then refinanced it with a $19.5 million loan from Old National Bank in 2023, public records show. It is 98 percent leased today.

The deal adds momentum to the Chicago-area apartment development pipeline, which has shrunk in recent years due to the rising costs of building materials and debt, plus a difficult environment for fundraising to make real estate acquisitions and capitalize construction projects. The result has been upward pressure on Midwest rents in existing buildings, which has drawn interest to the region from more institutional buyers.

But developers have begun reigniting the market in recent weeks.

In Chicago’s West Loop, Tim Anderson’s firm Focus Development, along with partners DAC Developments and Melrose Ascension Capital, pulled in $96 million in construction financing to build a 287-unit apartment project at 1221 West Washington Street. An office-to-residential conversion project for 65 East Wacker Place in Chicago that’s being led by Adam Friedberg’s firm Mavrek after an acquisition out of distress also scored a $90 million construction financing package.

The Evanston development team plans to dedicate 72 apartments resulting from the project to Evanston’s affordable housing program by limiting them to households making certain fractions of the area median income.

“While our proposal for 900 Clark Street was not contingent on purchasing Church Street Plaza, this was a compelling opportunity to acquire a high-quality asset in a high-barrier-to-entry location,” Continuum’s co-founder Meador said.

Goltz, the seller, declined to comment.

The Continuum team will work to start pre-construction involving the renovation of the retail into the base of the tower. It will seek a separate construction financing package for the approximately $130 million multifamily project.

Previously with Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group, which is backed by Bulls and White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Meador helped lead the development of over 1,100 apartments in Chicago’s West Loop and surrounding suburbs, including Evanston, where the firm built Maeve on Ridge, a luxury rental building at 1555 Ridge Avenue.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify that Evanston officials are still considering the redevelopment proposal.