3L Real Estate completed its second real estate acquisition in 12 months in the South Loop from Columbia College Chicago. The adaptive reuse specialists bought 731 South Plymouth Court from the liberal arts school, in a deal valued at more than $20M.

Columbia College put the 343-room building on the market in September. The school will lease the building for the 2018-19 school year, allowing the school to house students and various offices while construction of its new $50M student center at Wabash Avenue and Eighth Street continues. 3L Real Estate CEO Joseph Slezak said his firm will then redevelop the building into market rate apartments. The firm partnered with Skydeck, the investment arm of the Polsky family, on the redevelopment plan.

Slezak said the building's larger units offer opportunities to capitalize on demand for apartments in the South Loop, without having to compete with new construction in the submarket. He also liked having another property in the South Loop. 3L acquired the Johnson Publishing Building from Columbia College in November, and is spending up to $20M to convert the historic office building into apartments.

"We're big fans of the South Loop and had a great experience working with Columbia College previously," Slezak said.

As for the space Columbia will vacate, Slezak said some of it will be repurposed for the firm's own operations, some will be offered for market and still more will be converted into tenant amenity space. The building's main level will be converted into retail space.