CEDARst Lands $44M Refi for Chicago Community

The property is situated in the West Loop, near Fulton Market.

A red brick building on a street corner with Chicago's Sears Tower (Willis Tower) in the background

The Duncan is located about one mile from the Loop. Image courtesy of CEDARst Cos.

CEDARst Cos. has refinanced The Duncan apartment community in Chicago’s growing West Loop neighborhood. The 260-unit community at 1515 W. Monroe St. was refinanced with a $44 million CMBS loan from Citigroup, arranged by Berkadia.

The real estate development firm redeveloped the apartment community four years ago, delivering units during the height of the 2020 pandemic. That timing resulted in the lease-up being protracted. The first mortgage loan, provided by ACRE and totaling $51.5 million, has been entirely repaid and additional equity secured through a large family office based in the Midwest. The first mortgage loan is fixed at 6.67 percent over a five-year term.

“Among the challenges included delivering units during the global pandemic, which was followed by rapidly increasing rates over the last two years,” Will Murphy, CEDARst CEO, told Multi-Housing News, “This created a situation where developers including us were wrangling with costly debt and the inability to refinance. CEDARst worked through and overcame these challenges, focusing on operations and those things we could control. ACRE has been an incredible partner over a very difficult period. Given current market conditions, we are pleased with the results of this transaction.”

Downtown location

Encompassing three five-story steel-frame buildings with first-floor retail space, The Duncan offers studio and one-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 294 to 653 square feet. Features and finishes of apartments include in-unit washers and dryers, above-standard ceiling heights, microwave ovens, high-speed Internet access and in select units, private balconies or patios. A swimming pool is among the apartment community’s common-area amenities. Fifty-one of the units are designated as affordable.

The Loop is just a mile east of the property, while Fulton Market is a short walk north. Commuter and subway trains are located within walking distance.

Two months ago, a Chicago market report found demand for multifamily in the Windy City remained positive.