FPA Multifamily Buys Another Suburban Chicago Complex

FPA Multifamily tightened its grip on the Chicago area’s rental market with the $51 million acquisition of a Wheeling apartment complex, public records show.

The deal marks a significant transition for the 378-unit property at 850 Corey Lane in the northwest suburb, as a longtime family landlord exited the sector to make way for one of the region’s most aggressive institutional players. Formerly known as the VIP Apartments, San Francisco-based FPA has renamed the property ReNew Lake Arlington, joining with other properties in the area sharing the ReNew branding.

The seller was an entity tied to the Manda family, which had owned the apartment complex for many years. Reached by phone, Mark Manda confirmed the sale, stating that he has sold off his real estate holdings as part of a move into retirement. He declined to comment further on the specifics of the transaction, though the sale price represents a significant payday for the legacy owner of the property built in 1972.

It had been encumbered by relatively low leverage for years, with a Mark Manda-led entity taking out a $15 million Freddie Mac-backed loan originated by CBRE against the property in 2021, public records show.

FPA’s acquisition arrives amid a flurry of big deals at the start of the year in Chicagoland’s apartment market. Last month, Osso Capital offloaded a massive complex in Crest Hill for $110 million, about the same time eight-figure deals for properties in Aurora and Palatine closed. Together, they signal institutional appetite for suburban Chicago density remains at a fever pitch.

This wave of activity follows FPA setting the market’s high bar in 2025, suggesting investors are eager to lock in early in the year as Chicago’s stature rises to the top for many multifamily investors due to a lack of new development. FPA didn’t return a request for comment.

The firm’s recent acquisition highlights Chicago’s emergence as a top-tier performer on the national stage. While overdevelopment has led to an inventory surplus in Sun Belt cities, Chicago’s building pipeline has essentially hit a bottleneck. Local construction starts have plummeted to a low not seen since 2012. This scarcity is creating a tight squeeze for renters, as landlords have the upper hand in lease rate negotiations.

“Developers indicate virtually every proposed deal is in a holding pattern,” Chicago-based Integra Realty Resources said in its annual outlook for the region last month. “While banks are willing to issue construction loans, attracting equity remains a challenge. Rising rental rates and strong overall market fundamentals will compel equity to return to the market. However, we don’t anticipate any material new (downtown Chicago) construction deliveries until at least 2028.”

Median rent was up 3.2 percent in the suburban market in the third quarter, year-over-year, with strong occupancy at 97.6 percent, Integra found.

For FPA, the Wheeling property is the latest piece in a sprawling regional portfolio. While the firm made a rare exit in early 2025 by selling a Downers Grove property to Laramar Group, its recent activity has been defined by massive capital deployment. The firm’s dominance was most visible in December, when it closed Chicago’s largest multifamily deal of the year: a $175 million purchase of a luxury tower in Streeterville. That blockbuster was followed weeks later by an $89 million purchase in the same neighborhood.

FPA’s strategy has been equally focused on Chicago’s suburban collar. In July 2024, the firm spent $102 million on a Hoffman Estates property, and in March, it utilized an assumable debt structure to acquire another suburban Naperville property for a total of $68 million.