News
Staying Steady
September 9, 2010
| Since Apartment Realty Advisors opened its Chicago office in 2007, the brokerage has seen a consistency in the geography and property type and more than $1B in sales, including the largest apartment sale in Chicagoland last year, the 592-unit AMLI at Chevy Chase in Buffalo Grove, ARA professionals think multifamily could lead the way out of the recession soon. | |||
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| Yesterday we chatted with two members of ARA's Chicago sales team, Susan Lawson and Debbie Corson. Prior to opening the door here, ARA completed two years of exhaustive research on the Chicago multifamily market, contacting, photographing, and mapping every large apartment property downtown and in the suburbs to document ownership, rents, and occupancies. The launch of ARA's Chicago operations was immediately followed by the beginning of the recession and the worst real estate market slump in decades. But the ARA team says that the soft market has created opportunities for new capital and buyers to participate in a market with traditionally low sales volume. | |||
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| ARA completed the largest suburban apartment sale in Chicagoland last year, the 592-unit AMLI, quickly followed by the sale of JP Morgan's Landings at Lake Zurich. This year the team has listed two major properties in the Chicago area—the REO Woodland Park in Bronzeville (above) and Lakeview Townhomes in Aurora—and is working on several large off-market deals. The team aims to continue the slow and steady growth, and has a goal of gaining more ground as apartment occupancy and rents increase. |
