TODAY’S DEALS: PREI Buys Luxury Chicago Tower

SoNo East

Chicago—Prudential Real Estate Investors has closed its purchase of SoNo East, a luxury 22-story multifamily tower located at 840 Blackhawk Street in Chicago adjacent to the Whole Foods flagship store and a CTA Red Line station. HFF marketed the property on behalf of the developer, Smithfield Properties, in the summer of 2011 while it was still under construction. The ultimate sales closed in the last week of December.

“SoNo East is the first high-rise multi-housing tower built in Lincoln Park since 1988,” says Daniel Kaufman, a director at HFF. “With its unique high-end finishes, best-in-class amenity package and desirable location at the hub of the Clybourn Avenue retail corridor, SoNo East will be Lincoln Park’s dominant residential address for many years to come.”

SoNo East consists of 324 units and 3,990 square feet of ground floor retail, as well as a 204-space parking garage. Amenities include a fitness center, stainless steel swimming pool, hot tub, sundeck, fire pit, billiards room, café/lounge and great room.

Kennedy Wilson finances one property, sells another

Summer House Apartments

Alameda & Napa, Calif.—Kennedy Wilson has added a supplemental loan to the existing financing on Summer House Apartments, a 615-unit community located in Alameda, Calif. The firm picked up the asset with one of its investment partners in 2010. On New Year’s Eve the company and that partner closed a $19.4 million Freddie Mac loan arranged by Berkeley Point Capital.

The financing on Summer House now totals $90.2 million at a fixed rate of 4.44 percent and a maturity on November 1, 2020. Kennedy Wilson’s initial investment in the property was $2.8 million. Through this financing and previous property cash flow, the company has received a total of $3.8 million of distributions. Kennedy Wilson invested 15 percent of the equity in this property and, based on the distributions to date, is receiving 30 percent of current distributions due to its promoted interest in the property.

Rutherford Townhomes

“This transaction exemplifies the company’s ability to produce profits in a variety of ways,” says William McMorrow, chairman and chief executive officer of Kennedy Wilson. “We were able to take advantage of current financing opportunities and return the company’s original equity while maintaining ownership in a property located in a growing market. Additionally, we were able to sell a property in the same area that we believe has reached its stabilized value.”

Three days prior to closing that loan, Kennedy Wilson completed the sale of Rutherford Townhomes, a 66-unit community located in Napa, Calif. It was sold through KW Property Fund III for a price of $8.7 million. The fund originally picked up the asset for $6.6 million in 2009, producing a 1.7x gross equity multiple after the sale.

FHL Bank San Francisco awards $18.5M in affordable housing grants

San Francisco—The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco awarded $18.5 million in Affordable Housing Program grants in the second round of its 2012 AHP funding competition. The grants were awarded to 38 projects that will produce or preserve 2,018 units of housing for low-income individuals and families in Arizona, California, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas.

“Once again, many of the homes and developments selected to receive AHP funds in this round will meet needs that can’t be satisfied by a roof alone. They will provide supportive services to troubled veterans, offer accessibility to seniors or people with disabilities, give working people housing options where the work is, allow families to get to know their future neighbors by building their own homes together, or help safeguard our natural resources by building with sustainable methods and materials,” says Jim Yacenda, vice president and community investment officer at FHLBank San Francisco.