Top 10 Apartment Owners in Chicago

By Razvan Cimpean

Chicago’s multifamily market is stable, with more than 8,000 new units expected to come online this year. However, developers show a greater interest in high-rise residential communities than in affordable ones. As a result, the city council introduced in May an ordinance that seeks to limit gentrification along the popular 606 trail by imposing higher demolition fees and a new ‘de-conversion fee’ for developers that want to transform multifamily communities into single-family homes.

This list highlights the metro’s top 10 private, REIT and institutional investor apartment owners, based on unit counts, according to Yardi Matrix data. The total number includes units within projects that are completed, under construction, planned, as well as prospective. ShoDeen Residential currently has no properties completed in Chicago. Should the company finalize its units, it would come in at number nine.

10. F & F Realty

The company with the fewest properties on this list, F & F Realty, owns seven communities in Chicago, most of which are suburban. However, the developer signed in January a $117.8 million construction loan with Bank of the Ozarks and is expected to deliver the 492-unit One South Halsted in the first months of 2019. International Village, the biggest community owned by F & F Realty, is located at 1220 E. Algonquin Road and boasts 732 apartments. Community amenities include two swimming pools, a tennis court, clubhouse, volleyball court and 12 laundry facilities.

9. Group Fox

With 16 properties in Chicago, Group Fox owns and manages a little under 3,900 units in the metro. The company’s largest communities are Barrington Lakes, a 790-unit market-rate asset in Hoffman Estates, and Axis, a 615-unit property in the submarket of Near North Side. The newest community of Group Fox is the 285-unit The Lofts at River East, located at 445 E. Illinois St. The building features studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, a fitness center, business center, clubhouse and covered parking. As of July, the asset was 96.8 percent occupied.

8. Aimco

The Denver-based investment trust owns and manages 4,045 units in Chicago. The company operates communities in various submarkets, with the largest one, Lakeside, sitting in Naperville-East. The 568-unit property is located at 4800 Lake Trail in Lisle and offers one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, averaging 845 square feet per unit. Apartment Investment Management Co. plans a second phase for its Yorktown community, a three-building, 364-unit asset in Lombard. The developer has yet to announce when it will break ground on the new seven-story, 78-unit building. Earlier this year, the company also acquired the remaining stake in three Palazzo communities in Los Angeles. 

7. Magellan Development Group

Although it only has nine properties in the metro, Magellan completed two communities since the beginning of 2016. Currently, the company is developing The Gallery on Wells, a 442-unit asset located at 637 N. Wells St. In April, Magellan finalized Exhibit on Superior, located at 165 W. Superior St.  The 298-unit, Class A property features studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, ranging between 484 and 1,528 square feet. Rents at Exhibit on Superior start at $1,991 and go as high as $5,158 as of June, when the asset was 64.1 percent occupied.

6. Waterton

With nearly 4,200 units owned in Chicago, Waterton has the largest community completed on this list. Presidential Towers, a four-building, 2,346-unit asset located at 555 W. Madison St. features studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, with an average 656 square feet per unit. The average rent was $1,751 as of June, when the community was 93 percent occupied. This year, Waterton acquired the 81-unit Aberdeen West Loop from Michigan Avenue Real Estate Group for $18 million. Located at 22 N. Aberdeen St., the four-story, four-building property was completed in 2014 and features a fitness center and 81 parking spaces. Additionally, the company plans to expand its Montrose community with an adjacent 160-unit asset.

5. TLC Management

Coming in at number five is TLC Management, which has 28 small properties (4,197 units) in Chicago, 21 of which are Class C and the remaining seven are Class B. The company’s largest community is Arbor Lakes, a 47-building, 379-apartment asset located at 4248 N. Bloomington Ave. in Arlington Heights. This year, TLC paid $53 million to Friedkin Realty Group for the 342-unit Windsor Estate in Bloomingdale. The previous year, the firm acquired three properties totaling nearly 950 units.

4. Habitat Co.

Habitat owns and operates 14 urban communities in Chicago, totaling 4,299 apartments. With 534 units, Columbus Plaza is the company’s biggest multifamily property. Completed in 1981, the 48-story building is located at 233 E. Wacker Drive and features studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments, ranging between 563 and 1,352 square feet. Community amenities include a fitness center and multiple laundry facilities. In 2014, Habitat completed the 450-unit Hubbard Place. The LEED-certified luxury community sits within walking distance from downtown Chicago and offers studios, one- and two-bedroom units. As of July, rents at Hubbard Place started at $1,948 and went up to $4,993. The 43-story property features a fitness center, clubhouse, spa, swimming pool and 475 parking spaces. Earlier this month, Habitat also purchased and assumed property management of Eastwood Garden Apartments, a 188-unit affordable rental development in the Englewood neighborhood.

3. Draper & Kramer

While it has one of the lowest total number of properties on this list (12), Draper & Kramer own nine large urban communities and three smaller suburban assets. Lake Meadows, a nine-building, 1,869-unit property, located at 500 E. 33rd St., sits one and a half miles from Interstate 94 Express. The 20-story nine-building asset was completed in 1958 and features 1,600 square feet of retail space. Lake Meadows offers a business center, tennis and basketball court, nine laundry facilities and more than 1750 parking spaces. The company is awaiting city approvals or final plans for two new properties, the 58-unit Apartments 65 Lakes at 65 E. Banks St. and the 275-unit 2109 South Wabash. At the beginning of this year, the company purchased The Clayson, a 448-unit multifamily asset in Palatine, from PGIM Real Estate for $48.3 million.

2. Related Cos.

In Chicago, Related Cos. own primarily urban communities. Out of the total 26 properties (9,248 units) the company has in the metro, 24 are urban and only two are suburban. The New York-based firm plans the redevelopment of the partially affordable 3,396-unit Roosevelt Square. Additionally, Related is also developing the 291-unit Landmark West Loop, located at 1035 W. Van Buren St. and the 279-unit One Bennet Park, located at 451 E. Grand Ave. Parkway Gardens is the company’s largest completed community, a 35-building, 964-unit affordable asset located at 6415 S. Calumet Ave. The property offers two- and three-bedroom apartments with an average 905 square per unit. Community amenities include a business center, playground, two laundry facilities and almost 700 parking spaces. Related acquired the community in 2011 from American Apartment Management for $39.9 million.

1. Chicago Housing Authority

Compared to the company on the second place, the government agency has more than double the number of properties. Chicago Housing Authority owns 54 urban, affordable communities totaling 16,404 apartments, with the largest one being the Altgeld Murray Gardens (1,400 units). Completed in 1945 and managed by East Lake Management & Development, the 114-building property features one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments, 62 laundry facilities and 485 parking spaces. In 2011, CHA completed the 669-unit Dearborn Homes, located at 2960 S. Federal St. The community is managed by Woodlawn Communities Development and offers one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units, ranging between 535 and 1,551 square feet. Community amenities include a playground, four laundry facilities and a little over 900 parking spaces.

Images courtesy of Yardi Matrix