CHICAGO—Equus Capital Partners Ltd. has sold a 330-unit student housing facility here for $58.5 million to a joint venture of Atlas Real Estate Partners, Marc Real Residential and Angelo, Gordon and Co.
Located in the heart of Chicago's South Loop, the 28-story high rise facility at Two East Eighth Street is close to Columbia College, Roosevelt University and more than 20 other schools. The building has 882 beds and includes 20,000 sq. ft. of first floor retail and a four-story parking garage. At the time of sale, the property was 96 percent leased.
Greg Curci, vice president at Equus, oversaw the sale for the company. “The stability provided by the recently executed master lease for 60 percent of the beds with Columbia College resulted in strong investor interest for this unique and well located urban student housing community,” he said in a statement. Chris Bancroft and Chris Epp with ARA Student Housing Group, and Susan Lawson and Todd Stofflet with ARA Chicago, represented Equus in the sale. The Philadelphia-based company was formerly known as BPG Properties Ltd.
The purchase was financed by a floating-rate Fannie Mae loan originated by Mitch Sinberg with Beech Street Capital. New ownership plans to significantly upgrade unit interiors and amenities throughout the building and also launch a summer housing program starting May 2013 for students and interns.