Less than three years after breaking into the Chicago multifamily market with a nearly $128 million acquisition during a sluggish time for investments, Tishman Speyer is looking to cash in on the 357-unit property as deal flow surges.
CBRE brokers have been hired to sell the two-tower Union West property at 939 W. Washington Blvd. along the southern edge of Fulton Market, according to a brochure.
New York-based Tishman Speyer bought the connected, 15-story towers in December 2023, paying $127.85 million during a slowdown in apartment sales because of factors such as rising interest rates and a pullback by many investors.
It was the first multifamily acquisition in Chicago by Tishman Speyer, which for decades has been one of the city’s largest office landlords.
Tishman Speyer later bought a second Chicago multifamily property, paying almost $114 million for the 191-unit Elevate Lincoln Park tower on the North Side.
The firm also has been buying and developing apartments in markets such as Boston, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta and in several cities in China.
It’s unclear why Tishman Speyer is now trying to offload its first Chicago apartment property or how much it expects in a sale. The firm declined to comment to CoStar News.
The deal could be a good gauge of how much multifamily values have increased in recent years, as Chicago rent growth has continued to rank near the top of all major U.S. markets. That is the result of a slowdown in new construction the past few years.
At the time the firm bought Union West, Tishman Speyer executive Nooshin Felsenthal said in a statement the company was capitalizing on "a rare opportunity to take advantage of disrupted capital flows and acquire a highly amenitized, best-in-class asset in a thriving neighborhood," with the property well positioned to benefit from continued growth.
Over the past year, a combined $6 billion has been spent buying Chicago-area apartments, a 30% increase from the previous year, according to CoStar data. By comparison, the increase is about 5% nationally.
Large deals so far in 2026 include the $167 million sale of the 1,115-unit Pavilion Apartments complex near O’Hare International Airport and the approximately $126 million sale of the 332-unit tower at 73 E. Lake St. near Millennium Park.
Fulton Market has emerged as a large multifamily market as office and hotel towers and other new structures have risen in the former meatpacking district. Higher-end retail also is expected after global fashion designer Rick Owens signed the first lease by an ultra-luxury retailer in the area.
Built in 2020, Union West is nearly 96% leased with an average in-place rent of $3,133 per unit, according to the CBRE materials. The property’s 12,436 square feet of retail is fully leased to tenants including a West Loop Market grocery store.
The property includes a tenant lounge, pool and deck with fire pits and grilling stations.
For the record
The seller is represented by CBRE brokers John Jaeger, Justin Puppi, Jason Zyck, Nicholas Miller and Jillian Jaeger.