CityPads Sells Tapestry Station in Evanston to TLC Management

Veteran Chicago multifamily investor Stuart Handler isn’t slowing down as he approaches his ninth decade.

The octogenarian behind behemoth Chicago-area landlord TLC Management parlayed a $39 million Uptown sale in March into the firm’s purchase this week of a 120-unit luxury Evanston building from its developer, locally based Andy Ahitow’s firm CityPads, according to public records and brokers of the deal.

TLC paid $38 million to acquire Evanston’s Tapestry Station, at 740 Main Street, from developer CityPads.

The deal completes a 1031 exchange used to defer taxes that began in mid-March, when TLC Management sold the Whitechapel Apartments in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood, at 4910 North Sheridan Road, to New York-based Related’s affordable housing division for $39.3 million, public records show.

Handler’s deals mark his latest moves out of Chicago properties in favor of suburban complexes near train stations. Last year, he spent $100 million for a 294-unit property in Vernon Hills, and $60 million on a Mount Prospect property, while selling a $23 million Hyde Park portfolio.

For CityPads, the sale represents the culmination of a transit-oriented vision in Evanston’s Main-Dempster Mile. Ahitow boasted of the deal on social media, claiming the project doubled investor equity and provided a 20 percent internal rate of return. He credited Chicago-based capital partner Blackbird Investment Group, which also recently teamed up with 11 East Partners to secure a new $55 million loan from BentallOakGreen against a Gold Coast retail property.

CityPads partnered with general contractor Summit Design + Build on Tapestry Station’s development and construction. The developer completed the project in March 2024 following a 14-month construction timeline.

Brokerage Kiser Group’s Lee Kiser and Andy Friedman represented CityPads in the sale. Tapestry Station had previously been marketed by a JLL team.

The property features a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments sitting above ground-level commercial space. Its amenities include indoor parking, a rooftop deck, tenant lounges and private workspaces.

The development also weaves in a bit of local real estate history. The building’s name pays tribute to Vogue Fabrics, a longtime wholesaler that previously occupied a vintage commercial building on the site. Though Vogue Fabrics relocated elsewhere in Evanston, Tapestry Station honors the business’s legacy by displaying vintage Singer sewing machines in common areas.