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Is Chicago Multifamily Morphing Into A Seller's Market?

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The rooftop pool at Akara Partners' Kenect in River West.

Over 6,500 new apartments are coming online this year, led by 2,022 apartments in River North alone. As they begin to hit the market, a seller's market is forming. Two newly built buildings are now up for sale, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

Akara Partners hired HFF to market Kenect at 504 North Green in River West to buyers. The 222-unit Kenect opened last autumn and is 88% leased. HFF is also seeking bidders for Jones Chicago apartments at 200 West Illinois. Gerding Edlen and developer Fred Latsko opened the 25-story, 188-unit tower in 2015. It is 95% leased.

Kenect and Jones join two other new apartment towers up for sale. Shapack Partners hired CBRE last month to find a buyer for The Parker in Fulton Market. And the Wolf Point JV of the Kennedy family and Hines Interest hired HFF in March to broker a sale of Wolf Point West. That is 1,105 luxury apartments now on the market. How fast buyers can be found for these developments will help determine the remaining momentum in the downtown multifamily sector, as developers want to flip these properties as fast as possible to move on to the next project. The Wolf Point JV wants to move on to building Wolf Point East, while Akara agreed to buy 30 floors of the Pittsfield Building for $16M last month.