Rail Station Location Seals Chicago Deal

Kimball Station. Image courtesy of Inland Private Capital Corp.

Proximity to a major transit line figured prominently in the recent sale of Chicago apartment community Kimball Station. The 10-year-old, five-story property sold for $15.2 million. Inland Private Capital Corp. (IPC) facilitated the sale of the property on behalf of Chicagoland Multifamily DST, one of its 1031 investment programs. 

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The 59-unit rental property is situated at the Northwest Side terminus of the Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Brown Line, about 8 miles northwest of the Loop central business district. Commuters can travel directly to the city’s Lakeview, Lincoln Park, River North and Loop districts in no more than 35 minutes. The Brown Line commuter rail station at Kimball and Lawrence Avenues serves 1.3 million passengers each year.

The apartment community was built in 2009 and offers one- and two-bedroom apartments from 696 to 1,498 square feet in size. It enjoyed a 98.3 percent occupancy at time of sale. Kimball Station also includes 6,118 square feet of ground floor retail.

Finishes and features of the residences include Italian-style flat-panel cabinetry, floor-to-ceiling double-pane windows, large balconies or patios, stainless steel appliances and wall-to-wall carpeting in bedrooms. Among the leading common-area amenities at Kimball Station is controlled access entry with video monitoring.

Booming neighborhood 

Due to its location on the Brown Line and its comparative affordability, Chicago’s more-than-century-old, culturally-diverse Albany Park enclave is spurring growing developer interest. Traditionally a gateway into Chicago for immigrants to the U.S., the pedestrian-friendly neighborhood has a Walk Score of 91 and puts residents within steps of shopping, restaurants, schools, houses of worship and public transportation. A trio of universities is located within a 3-mile radius of the apartment community.

IPC purchased the property in 2012. Investors gained an average annualized return of 8.2 percent. The sale brought a total investor return of 157.1 percent, based on the aggregate amount of original capital invested.