Waterton Sells Grand Central in South Loop

Waterton is offloading the Grand Central apartments at 221 West Harrison Street for $103.5 million to RPM Living.

The Chicagoland-based company put the property up for sale in summer 2025, less than two years after acquiring it from D2 Realty and Wood Partners for around $81 million. The Grand Central spans two buildings at 14 stories each, and has 346 units. Austin-based RPM paid a smidge under $300,000 per unit, according to CoStar.

Waterton was represented by Newmark agents Liz Gagliardi, Chuck Johanns, Susan Lawson, Bishop Polizzotto and Marshall Roberts. Johanns and Gagliardi also represented D2 and Wood in the previous sale of the building. The Grand Central previously had an occupancy rate of 93 percent. The current occupancy rate is unknown.

The $103.5 million sale price is nearly $22 million higher than the building sold for in 2023. Sales proceedings lasted around a year.

Waterton has been on an apartment complex buying and selling spree. In March, they grabbed Flair Tower, a 197-unit River North complex for $85 million. In February, they acquired a 212-unit Misora apartment complex for $148.5 million. A month earlier, Waterton picked up The Kitt at Warner Center for $180 million. In 2025 they offloaded a 749-unit complex in Justice to Turner Impact Capital for $82 million.

The heightened sale value highlights Chicago’s rent increases that coincided with a lackluster construction pipeline, according to the publication. Landlords across the city have been putting their properties up for sale as the city works to cut through red tape surrounding new developments.

RPM Living has been making deals in the Chicago area as well. In March, the Texas-headquartered company bought a build-to-rent apartment complex in Orland Ridge for $102 million. Orland Ridge boasts an average rent of $2,873 per month and has a 92 percent occupancy rate.

— Hunter Cooke