Kiser Group Brokers $38M Sale of Chicago Condominium Asset

1140 N. LaSalle St.

Kiser Group has arranged the sale of The Flats on LaSalle, a 250-unit condominium building which the buyer, ESG Kullen, plans to turn into apartments. A team of brokers consisting of Principal Lee Kiser, Senior Director Michael D’Agostino and Broker Jake Parker represented the buyer in the $38 million deal. To acquire the property, ESG also partnered with Harrison Street Real Estate Capital.

The Flats on LaSalle is located at 1140 N. LaSalle St. and was originally built in 1924 as a luxury hotel. It was converted into multifamily in 2004 only to be turned into condominiums two years later. According to Yardi Matrix data, H.A. Langer & Associates bought 121 units from Jared Doumani in 2016 for $7.5 million, as the rest of the units were held by individual owners. The asset encompasses studio and one-bedroom units.

“The conversion of apartment buildings into condominiums was a significant trend from 1999 through 2007, when returns to condo developers outweighed the returns to apartment owners. In today’s market, the inverse is true. While the price of a condominium may not be attractive to the homeowner, the whole may be greater than the sum of the parts—meaning an apartment investor might pay a lot more for the unit. This doesn’t hold true for every condominium building, which is why a market analysis and plan should be completed for the association prior to the entertaining offers,” said Kiser in a prepared statement.  

The brokerage company facilitated several transactions of condominium buildings suitable for deconversion last year. It is also currently marketing three other assets, located in the Uptown, Wicker Park and Oak Park neighborhoods. 

Image courtesy of Kiser Group

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