Benjamin L. Kadish of Maverick Commercial Mortgage announced the closing of the financing for the $93,835,000 first mortgage loan for River City located at 800 S. Wells Street in Chicago. River City is a condominium building that the borrowing entity will deconvert into an apartment building. The complex process from the initial offer to closing all 447 units took more than three years.
The non-recourse, interest-only loan was funded by Silverpeak Argentic, a national bridge and CMBS lender. The loan has an initial term of 36 months with two 12-month extension options. The loan funded 70.5 percent of project costs that included acquisition of the subject property, an interest reserve, closings costs and future capital draws to fund the borrowers’ renovation plans.
Amidst a growing trend, River City’s deconversion marks the largest of its kind to date in the Chicagoland area. The new owners—a newly formed joint venture among The Wolcott Group, Marc Realty, Ruttenberg Gordon Investments and funds managed by Elliott Management Corporation—closed in December 2018 and have started on the renovation work, which will include the improvement of all residential units and extensive face-lift to the common areas, lobbies and amenity areas.
The buyers were represented by Bryan Segal of Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum, and Nagelberg, LLP. The lender was represented by the firm of Arnold and Porter. Apartments are being designed by Devon Grace Interiors, and Luxury Living Chicago Realty is the exclusive marketing and leasing brokerage.
River City was constructed in 1986. Since construction, the South Loop has changed significantly. This location is only four blocks from the Loop. There have been billions of dollars invested both near the River City site, and just south and east of the location over the past 15 years.
