BWE has secured $38.92 million to refinance 194 units of Woodland Park by the Lake, a 240-unit gated condominium community in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

Ryan Morris, vice president, and Max Miller, analyst, both in BWE’s Chicago office, originated the five-year Freddie Mac loan on behalf of the sponsor, a joint venture between a Chicago-based property management firm and a Chicago-based investor group. The joint venture originally acquired 170 units in the property in 2019 as part of a fractured condo deal, and since then, they have purchased more units and substantially renovated those homes. The refinancing accounts for 194 of the total 240 units.

“With its recent stabilization and the strong Chicago rental market, it was the ideal time to refinance so that our client can continue to acquire and renovate additional units in the property,” said Morris. Located at 3423 S Cottage Grove Avenue, Woodland Park by the Lake is a gated, seven-acre residential community.

Lument has provided $110.8 million in Fannie Mae DUS loans to refinance a six-property multifamily portfolio located in Chicago.

The transaction refinances existing bank debt for the sponsor BJB Properties, a Chicago-based owner-operator focused on long-term holds that currently owns and manages over 70 communities. Lument’s Evan Hom, a senior managing director based in New York, led the transaction.

The six Fannie Mae loans refinanced the following properties:

• 244 E Pearson, a 223-unit community in the Near North Side.
• 1036 N Dearborn, a 135-unit community in the Near North Side.
• 320 N Michigan, a 119-unit community in the Loop.
• 1246 W Pratt, a 123-unit community in Rogers Park.
• 11 W Division, a 110-unit community in the Near North Side, and
• 1939 N Lincoln, a 59-unit community located in Lincoln Park.

All loans carry fixed interest rates, 10-year terms, and 35-year amortization schedules. Five loans are full-term interest only and one features five years of interest only. The structures also maintain flexibility for future supplemental financing from Fannie Mae.

“Fannie Mae’s support and flexibility led to a timely and efficient closing with favorable long-term financing, ensuring the portfolio has a strong fiscal position for the next decade,” said Lument’s Hom.

SL Industrial Partners, part of The Silverman Group, has acquired a 17-building portfolio totaling 925,391 square feet of industrial flex space across three business parks in the Chicago area.

The portfolio was sold by an institutional owner, with Cushman & Wakefield representing the seller. The transaction was facilitated by the firm’s Vice Chairs Mike Tenteris, Adam Tyler, and Jim Carpenter.

Each business park will be rebranded under the SL Business Center name, including SL Business Center at Buffalo Grove, an eight-building complex with 406,406 square feet of industrial flex space. The portfolio also includes SL Business Center at Vernon Hills, a five-building complex with 281,340 square feet of space, and SL Business Center at Elgin, a four-building complex comprising 237,645 square feet of space.

The acquisition nearly doubles SL Industrial Partners’ presence in the Chicago market, growing its portfolio from 800,000 square feet to just under 2 million square feet. “Smaller flex space has proven to be a critical asset for businesses looking for highly functional and well-located industrial facilities,” said Blake Silverman, President of The Silverman Group.

Continuum Advisors, a national senior housing investment sales and advisory firm, announced the sale of The Oaks at Bartlett, a 283-unit senior housing community about 35 miles northwest of downtown Chicago.

Built in 2007, the 37-acre interconnected campus offers 10 cottages, 154 independent living apartments, 49 assisted living units, 16 memory care units and 54 skilled nursing units. Continuum Advisors co-founders David Kliewer and Jay Jordan led the transaction, after running an extensive marketing campaign to identify a stalking horse bidder, followed by a court-supervised overbid process.

The community was sold through a court-supervised process with Michael F. Flanagan of Flanagan & Associates, LLC serving as the Receiver. This led to the $42 million sale of The Oaks at Bartlett to a national institutional investor.

“Under new ownership, this sale paves the way for long-term financial stability and new capital to be invested into the campus across common spaces as well as unit upgrades,” said David Kliewer.

Berkadia has completed the sale of three senior living communities offering assisted living and memory care services in the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas.

Berkadia Seniors Housing & Healthcare, led by Managing Directors Ross Sanders, Dave Fasano, Cody Tremper, and Mike Garbers, closed the 306-unit transaction on behalf of the seller, a joint venture between Dallas-based Caddis Partners and a private equity real estate fund. The properties were purchased by a publicly traded REIT.

Heartis of Orland Park, located approximately 25 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, opened in 2018 with 96 assisted living and memory care units. Heartis Village Brookfield and Heartis Village North Shore, located in Brookfield and Glendale, Wisconsin, opened in 2019 and have a total of 210 assisted living and memory care units.

The two Class A properties have exhibited strong occupancies and rental rate growth year after year. With limited new construction in the Milwaukee MSA, they will have the capability to continue strong performance going forward. 

Standard Real Estate Investments and Trammell Crow Company (TCC), have closed on the sale of the Woodridge Industrial Center in Woodridge, Illinois.

Standard made an equity investment through its $150 million investment vehicle last year, and construction was completed in July 2024. This is the first sale in the investment vehicle. Harris Architects was the architect of record, FCL was the general contractor, and SpaceCo served as the civil engineer on the Woodridge Industrial Center.

Located at 8110 Lemont Rd., the 217,000-square-foot facility is located on a 17-acre parcel in the Village of Woodridge. The new development includes 22 dock doors with 130-foot truck courts, a single-load, 291-foot deep building and 270 parking spaces.

“The record-setting rent growth and growing demand for modern Class A industrial space made the project appealing to investors seeking in-fill core assets,” said Josh Udelhofen, Senior Vice President with TCC Chicago.

Skender has completed construction on a 38,000-square-foot facility expansion for the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

The new prepared meals center, located at 4100 W. Ann Lurie Place, was completed seven weeks ahead of schedule and has enabled the food bank to increase its response to hunger with the capacity to distribute up to 10,000 scratch-made meals per day.

The project team included JLL as owner’s rep, Partners by Design as an architect, Skender as a general contractor, V3 Companies as a civil engineer, Buro Happold as a structural engineer, Salas O’Brien as a mechanical engineer, and PM&E Partners as food processing engineer.

The expansion added a commercial kitchen for meal preparation, cold storage spaces to support the food preparation areas, a new lobby and 11.5 acres of site work. Skender also coordinated and facilitated the installation of a singular Hydroponic Container Farming Unit.

“The Greater Chicago Food Depository is a pillar of our community, and it’s been an honor to help them expand and serve more people than ever before,” said Eric Fiket, Senior Project Manager and Team Leader at Skender.

Michael Brennan will receive Connect CRE’s Lifetime Achievement Award and will participate in the Keynote Interview with Kevin Brennan, also of Brennan Investment Group. Join us at Connect Industrial Midwest 2025 on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 5, at Joe’s Live in Rosemont, IL, for this exclusive presentation!

Nassimi Realty has acquired Joffco Square, a retail center located at 555 West Roosevelt Road in Chicago’s South Loop, for $9.25 million. The 100,000-square-foot property, purchased at $92 per square foot, was previously acquired by the prior owner for $27 million.

Joffco Square is anchored by major retailer Best Buy and shadow-anchored by Home Depot. Located along the bustling Roosevelt Avenue, the center sits directly across from Whole Foods, Nordstrom Rack, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Marshalls.

This acquisition further expands Nassimi Realty’s portfolio of retail assets in the Chicago area, following its recent acquisition of Lake Plaza in Waukegan. This acquisition marks the third direct transaction between Nassimi Realty and Pinetree.

“Joffco Square’s exceptional location, coupled with high traffic from all modes of transportation—whether by bus, train, foot, or car—makes it a prime retail destination for the entire Chicago area,” said Kevin Nassimi, Principal at Nassimi Realty.

The Pizzuti Companies, an Ohio-based developer, recently celebrated the grand opening of Coppia, the company’s first multifamily high-rise in Chicago.

“Coppia’s location, architectural relevance, amenities and curated art program are among the many features that make this project stand out,” said Joel Pizzuti, President and CEO of The Pizzuti Companies.

Located at 1101 W. Van Buren, the building sits at the southern end of S. Aberdeen St in the West Loop, just north of the Eisenhower Expressway. Power Construction completed the construction of the 226-foot-tall high rise. At 19 floors and 298 units, the project totals 315,000 square feet with more than 24,000 square feet of amenity space. Village Green provides property management services. The project’s design architect was Goettsch Partners, and Gensler led the interior design concept.

Architectural images by Eric Laignel

Interra Realty has brokered the sale of two separate, fully occupied multifamily properties in Chicago.

An eight-unit apartment building at 5130 S. Greenwood Ave. in the Hyde Park neighborhood sold for $2.92 million, and a 17-unit rental community at 6251 N. Talman Ave. in the city’s West Ridge neighborhood sold for $2.21 million.

Interra Senior Managing Partner Brad Feldman represented both the 5130 S. Greenwood buyer, a local private investor, and the seller, Barnett Capital. For the 6251 N. Talman transaction, Feldman procured the buyer, a local private investor, and, along with Interra Associate Kevin Rahmanim, represented the seller, a local family-owned LLC.

At $365,000 per unit, the 5130 S. Greenwood transaction represented the highest price per unit for vintage apartment buildings in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood in the last five years. “Quality properties on Chicago’s North Side continue to command strong investor interest, especially those offering a value-add proposition,” Feldman said.