A Boston-based real estate firm wants to sell a 197-unit apartment tower in River North, adding to a wave of multifamily offerings that have hit the market in recent months in downtown Chicago.
GID Investment Advisors has hired CBRE brokers to seek a buyer for Flair Tower, a 26-story building at 222 W. Erie St., according to a brochure.
The move by GID comes after other investors in recent months have flooded the market with thousands of combined units amid signs of an improving investment sales market downtown.
That comes as Chicago-area rent growth continues to rank among the nation’s best following years of subdued multifamily construction, a metric that helps offset the effects of increased borrowing costs nationally in recent years.
Other deals in and around the Loop business district that recently have gone on the market include the Sky55 apartment tower and neighboring senior housing structure with 502 combined units near Grant Park; the Streeter, a 481-unit tower in Streeterville; the two-tower, 346-unit Grand Central complex in the South Loop; and the 332-unit tower at 73 E. Lake St. near Millennium Park.
It's unclear how much GID Investment Advisors is expecting in a sale of Flair Tower, and the firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
The firm bought the property in 2011, the year after it was completed, for $85 million. That deal came during a booming sales market in the city.
The tower was refinanced with a nearly $60 million loan from Berkeley Point Capital in December 2016, five years after the acquisition, according to Cook County property records.
GID, which also invests in office and industrial space, has $31.1 billion in assets under management, including more than 56,000 apartment units, according to the firm’s website.
Among the firm’s recent deals are three acquisitions in Seattle and a sale in Denver.
Flair Tower is 97% leased, and retail space at the base of the tower is fully leased, according to CBRE. The tower includes 184 parking spaces and amenities such as a pool, new fitness center, resident clubroom and refreshed lobby, according to the brochure.
There is little upcoming competition from newer towers, according to CBRE, with no projects under construction within a half-mile radius.
Asking rents are $3,424 per unit and $3.61 per square foot, according to CoStar data.
For the record
The seller is represented by CBRE brokers John Jaeger, Justin Puppi, Jason Zyck and Pete Marino.