Partnership Lands $170M Loan for Luxury Chicago Tower

Aerial rendering of Essex on the Park, Chicago

Chicago—A partnership between Oxford Capital Group LLC and Quadrum Global recently announced that it has secured a $170 million loan to build Essex on the Park, a new 56-story, 479-unit luxury apartment building at 808 S. Michigan Ave. in Chicago. The tower is designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture.

As part of the same project, the historic 254-key hotel Essex Inn at 800 S. Michigan Ave., will be expanded to 271 suites. The property will be upgraded to a luxurious hotel which will be known as Hotel Essex. Mission Capital Advisors advised ownership and ran point in sourcing the financing from a global investment bank.

Essex on the Park will encompass studios, convertibles and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The top two residential floors of the building will include four penthouse duplexes with private outdoor space. Residents will benefit from nine to 10-foot ceilings, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and in-unit washer/dryers. Amenities will also include a multi-story “winter garden” with an indoor pool, hot tub, outdoor grills, cabanas, fire pits and sliding walls with views overlooking Grant Park and Lake Michigan. A game room, business center, conference room, fitness center and a four-story onsite parking are also part of the project. The property will feature a restaurant, as well as a bar and a nightlife venue.

“We are very pleased with the terms of this highly competitive institutional financing that our joint team has been able to obtain for this large-scale mixed-use project. To us, this underscores the continued strength of Chicago’s downtown market, the city’s vibrant economy, as well as Essex’s unique location and the strength of sponsorship,” said Oleg Pavlov, founder & CEO of Quadrum Global, in a prepared statement.

Rendering of the “winter garden” at Essex on the Park, Chicago

The remodeling of the iconic hotel near the 479-unit community is slated to start in late-2018 and reopening is scheduled for 2019, concurrent with the grand opening of Essex on the Park.

“It’s extremely challenging for developers to secure non-recourse construction financing in the current lending environment, particularly for transactions of this size, but we had the privilege of working on a very well-conceived project with marquee sponsorship and a fantastic location. This is a complex, large-scale hotel and apartment project in a highly-competitive market. Despite the size and complexity, we were able to generate interest from multiple lenders who were willing to provide full-stack financing on a non-recourse basis,” said Jordan Ray, managing director at Mission Capital Advisors.

Essex on the Park and the redevelopment of the Essex Inn are the 15th and 16th Oxford developments in the Chicagoland area. The 620-foot Essex on the Park is one of the three new skyscrapers planned to line the southern area of Grant Park.

Images courtesy of Oxford Capital Group, Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture