A frenzy of multifamily sales in Chicago boosted the commercial real estate market in the second half of the year.
Multifamily sales made up eight out of the 10 priciest sales in Cook County this year, data compiled by The Real Deal shows. All but one of those multifamily sales took place in the third or fourth quarter of the year.
Still, two industrial properties traded in high-profile deals, including the priciest commercial sale of 2025.
The highest dollar transaction in Cook County this year was High Street Logistics’ sale of a $270 million industrial portfolio in the Northwest suburbs to NorthPoint Development, TRD found. It was the only sale that came in over $200 million.
In 2024, by comparison, Cook County’s top three sales all came in well over $200 million, with the $504 million sale of the Sheraton Grand Riverwalk hotel topping the list.
Despite lackluster sales on the priciest end of the market, Cook County still recorded a solid flow of deals between the $100 million and $200 million range. Multifamily deals dominated the market, as the region experienced rent growth that outpaced most of the U.S.
Much of that is due to a historically low supply of new multifamily developments hitting the market. Construction has been slowed by high interest rates and construction costs coupled with restrictive city policies and a challenging property tax environment in Cook County.
While developers may be struggling to get new projects started in Chicago, the limited supply of new properties started to draw investors during the second half of the year.
Continuing that momentum, already an early contender exists for top commercial sale of the year for 2026. Apartment Investment and Management Company, better known as Aimco, announced Dec. 15 that the firm is selling its portfolio of seven rental complexes across the Chicago area for $455 million.
The sale to LaTerra Capital, based in Marina Del Ray, California, and Respark Residential, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is set to close in the first quarter of 2026. It is part of Denver-based Aimco’s broader plans to liquidate and wind down operations.
Here are the top commercial deals of 2025, based on TRD research:
High Street Elgin industrial portfolio | $270 million
NorthPoint Development’s $270 million investment in Elgin in June nabbed the top spot for the priciest commercial sale of the year and was one of the most expensive industrial real estate purchases in the Chicago area in recent memory.
The Kansas City-based firm bought a portfolio of about a dozen warehouses spanning 2.8 million square feet in the northwest Chicago suburb, paying about $96 per square foot, public records show. Massachusetts-based seller High Street Logistics cashed in on an upswing in the region’s industrial market with the sale.
NorthPoint, founded by former Trammell Crow executive Robert Chagares 23 years ago, bought the portfolio for about $230 million in 2021.
North Water Apartments | $175 million
Amid a Chicagoland buying spree, FPA Multifamily purchased the North Water Apartments for $175 million in December.
Trinity Property Consultants, a firm with ties to Greg Fowler’s FPA Multifamily, bought the 398-unit apartment building at 340 East North Water Street from Miami-based developer Crescent Heights. The deal includes only the multifamily portion of the building — a 400-room Loews hotel occupies the rest of the building.
Crescent Heights secured a $112 million Freddie Mac loan on the building in 2023 at an interest rate of 5.5 percent, maturing in July 2028, and it was assumable by a buyer. That was likely a selling point for FPA, offering relief from higher interest rates in today’s market.
When the building hit the market earlier in the year, the property was listed as 93 percent occupied, with average rents of $3,574 per unit. Newmark brokers Liz Gagliardi, Chuck Johanns and Susan Lawson represented Crescent Heights on the listing.
For FPA, the North Water Apartments acquisition was the latest in a flurry of activity for the firm across the Chicago area.
The San Francisco-based company bought a Naperville apartment complex in March for $68 million, a month after it sold a Downers Grove building to Laramar Group. FPA also purchased a 500-unit South Loop building in March 2024 for $144 million, following that with a $60 million Oak Park tower in July 2024, and another Oak Park acquisition in August of that year.
Fulbrix Apartments | $170 million
Moceri & Roszak sold a Fulton Market apartment development for $170 million in April, snagging a win after the firm’s struggle in the office sector.
A venture of New York-based Normandy Real Estate acquired the 27-story, 375-unit Fulbrix Apartments at 160 North Elizabeth Street from developer Moceri & Roszak and equity partner Ares Management. The price equated to $453,000 per unit.
Eastdil Secured brokers Bryan Rosenberg and Donald Kelly represented the sellers. The buyers scored a $120 million Fannie Mae loan originated by Greystone’s Eric Rosenstock and Jesse Yodice. It’s a 10-year loan term with seven years of interest-only payments.
Moceri & Roszak completed the building in 2023. The buyer, Normandy Real Estate, is reportedly connected to the group that purchased McDonald’s global headquarters in Fulton Market in 2020, which was a high-profile vote of confidence in the corridor’s long-term potential.
Left Bank at K Station | $151 million
Houston-based Hines added to its growing Chicago multifamily portfolio by buying the Left Bank at K Station apartment tower for $151 million in November.
A venture of New Jersey-based PGIM Real Estate sold the 37-story, 451-unit building at 300 North Canal Street in West Loop to a Hines-affiliated fund, according to Cook County property records. The sale amounted to $335,000 per unit.
The deal was brokered by JLL’s Mark Stern, Kevin Girard and Zachary Kaufman.
PGIM put the tower on the market in June, one of several downtown multifamily listings this year, as strong rent growth and minimal new supply enticed investors back into the market.
Completed in 2006 by PGIM and Chicago-based Fifield Companies, Left Bank sits near the confluence of the Chicago River and marks one of the earliest residential components of Fifield’s master-planned K Station community, which also includes the K2, Echelon and Alta towers. PGIM later bought out Fifield’s stake in 2007.
JLL’s marketing materials touted an opportunity for upgrades, noting that about 17 percent of units have yet to be modernized — a potential value-add play for Hines, which has been expanding its residential portfolio nationally.
Rents at Left Bank ranged from $2,432 for studios to $4,162 for two-bedrooms when the property hit the market.
Fifteen 98 | $136 million
Amid a busy year for suburban sales, a New Jersey-based firm joined in on the action in August.
The Solomon Organization bought the 640-unit Fifteen 98 Naperville, at 1598 Fairway Drive, from San Francisco-based FPA Multifamily, DuPage County property records show.
The $136 million sale price equated to $212,500 per unit.
FPA had paid $98.5 million for the 34-acre property in 2017.
Solomon, based in Summit, New Jersey, controls about 21,000 units across nine states.
The firm financed the Naperville buy with a $91 million loan from Berkadia Commercial Mortgage. The property built in 1984 — formerly known as the Addison of Naperville — includes 39 low-rise buildings with a 6.6 percent vacancy rate. Asking rents average $1,879 a month, or $2.11 per square foot, according to CoStar.
Milieu | $134 million
Amli Residential made a purchase in December to make the list of top commercial transactions of 2025.
The Chicago-based firm paid more than $134 million for Milieu, a 19-story, 275-unit apartment tower at 205 South Peoria Street in the West Loop.
Seller Pacific Life Insurance developed the tower and completed it in 2019. The company partnered with White Oak Realty Partners and Crayton Advisors on the project. Pacific Life later bought out its partners and financed the property with an $86 million loan in 2021, Cook County records show.
Milieu includes 215 parking spaces, a rooftop pool and deck and a full slate of amenities. When JLL brought the property to market in July, occupancy stood at 96 percent, with new leases signed at 5 percent rent increases, year-to-date, according to marketing materials.
The building is in the West Loop neighborhood which has become one of the city’s most competitive submarkets. Interest in the area is driven by recent office conversions, an uptick in the dining scene and its proximity to Fulton Market.
One East Delaware | $130 million
A California investor scooped up one of the Gold Coast’s marquee apartment towers, closing a nine-figure deal that underscored the strength of Chicago’s rental market and the painful price resets that are still rippling through the city’s investment landscape.
San Francisco-based Friedkin Property Group paid $130 million for the 26-story, 304-unit One East Delaware in November, according to Cook County records. It marks one of downtown’s priciest multifamily trades of the year, yet still a steep markdown from the sellers.
The building at 1 East Delaware Place was sold by a venture of Golub & Co. and Alcion Ventures, which bought it for $146 million in 2016 and later poured another $30 million into renovations. JLL’s Mark Stern, Kevin Girard and Zachary Kaufman brokered the deal.
The building also offers 37,000-square-feet of retail space that is 87 percent leased.
The Golub-Alcion venture refinanced the property in late 2021 with a $113.5 million loan that was scheduled to mature in November 2024. Whether the lenders provided an extension was unclear, but the clock was ticking.
Buffalo Grove, Elgin and Vernon Hills industrial portfolio | $102 million
Silverman Group began the year by doubling the size of its Chicagoland commercial property portfolio.
In January, the New Jersey-based real estate investment firm spent about $102 million on a 925,000-square-foot collection of low-rise buildings aimed at light industrial and office tenants in the northern and northwest suburbs of Chicago, public records show. The price was about $110 per square foot.
The seller was San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital Group, which has offloaded a series of Chicago-area industrial, multifamily and office investments in recent years. Stockbridge paid $63.4 million ($69 per square foot) to buy the buildings in 2019, property records show.
The properties are in Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills and Elgin and include 17 buildings that were 92 percent leased at the time of sale. The deal brings Silverman’s Chicago-area portfolio to just under 2 million square feet, according to a news release.
Mike Tenteris, Adam Tyler and Jim Carpenter with Cushman & Wakefield represented Stockbridge in its sale to Silverman.
Algonquin Commons | $100 million
A suburban turnaround led by a California-based retail redevelopment specialist paid off for the seller.
Red Mountain Group and investment partner F&F Capital sold the Algonquin Commons shopping center to Nuveen for $100 million in September, four years after buying the site for $33 million. The prior owners, Inland Real Estate, gave it up via a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
But Nuveen didn’t necessarily overpay either. Inland bought the property for $154 million in 2006 before the Great Recession led to several store closings and ultimately Inland’s default.
The Red Mountain joint venture spent the last few years on a $30 million plan to bring the once struggling shopping center back to life.
The California-based company quickly attracted new tenants, including The Fresh Market, Bob’s Discount Furniture and a Twin Peaks restaurant. Over the past four years, the shopping center has gone from 60 percent to 94 percent occupied, according to Red Mountain. The firm put the property on the market late last year.
Newmark’s Bill Bauman, Kyle Miller, Keely Polczynski and Conor Lalor represented Red Mountain and F&F in the sale.
The Mil’Ton | $100 million
A longtime Chicago investor eyed opportunities in the suburbs this year.
TLC Management purchased a Vernon Hills apartment complex for $100 million in August.
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. The price amounted to $340,100 per unit.
Mesirow bought the complex 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.
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.