Bayshore Pays M Group $45M for West Chicago Apartments

Bayshore Properties is on a suburban buying spree, picking up a West Chicago apartment complex for nearly $45 million as cements its status as an aggressive player in the Chicagoland collar counties.

The firm, based in northwest Indiana, purchased Aspen Ridge Apartments, a 253-unit complex at 1440 South Neltnor Boulevard, according to public records. The sellers — a venture of Birmingham, Michigan-based M Group and West Chicago’s own Zinger Property Group — cashed in on significant appreciation.

The Zinger-M Group duo originally pounced on the property in 2021 for $29 million. That means the latest sale price represents a 55 percent jump in value in five years, although it’s unclear if the firms renovated or upgraded the property. Neither the sellers nor Bayshore returned requests for comment Wednesday. But Bayshore CEO Ryan Moore, who was elevated to the firm’s top job in January from a previous chief strategy officer role, posted about the transaction on social media. He said the firm is implementing AI-driven property management processes.

“As owner-operators, we have the freedom to build differently,” Moore wrote. “We’re replacing legacy processes with a centralized, AI-driven operating model that fundamentally rethinks how multifamily communities run across leasing, maintenance and resident experience with scalability and efficiency at its core.”

To fund the acquisition, Bayshore secured a Freddie Mac-backed mortgage for about $33 million, arranged by Greystone, records show. The financing highlights the continued availability of agency debt for well-located workforce housing, even as the broader lending environment remains cautious. Greystone didn’t return a request for comment.

The deal comes on the heels of another massive suburban acquisition by Bayshore. Earlier this year, the firm dropped $110 million to acquire the 730-unit Woodlands of Crest Hill in Crest Hill from New York-based Osso Capital, marking the largest suburban apartment sale so far this year.

That transaction, which saw Osso net a $15 million gain in just over two years, underscores a recurring theme in the current market: Private and institutional investors are successfully unloading large-scale suburban projects to veteran operators like Bayshore for significant margins.

Built in 1967, Aspen Ridge spans 11 three-story buildings across 11.5 acres. The complex is a classic value-add play: It’s an older project with 206,000 rentable square feet consisting of one- and two-bedroom units. Amenities include a saltwater swimming pool, fitness center and sports courts — features that allow new ownership to potentially push rents with interior renovations.

The acquisition fits a clear pattern of capital migrating toward Chicagoland’s outer ring. While the West Loop continues to see institutional action — evidenced by CedarSt’s recent $66 million purchase of the property known as Avra — many private players are finding more attractive cap rates and steadier rent growth in suburbs like West Chicago and Crest Hill.

The sale of Aspen Ridge follows a pattern of trading in the suburban multifamily sector. In addition to Bayshore’s activity, FPA Multifamily has continued to expand its massive regional portfolio, signaling that appetite for the region’s workforce housing remains unsated despite high interest rates.

For Bayshore, the move fits a clear strategy: targeting transit-adjacent, value-add opportunities. Aspen Ridge sits just off Route 59, near the Fox Valley Mall and the Chicago Premium Outlets, making it a prime target for a suburban workforce seeking more space without the downtown price tag.