The 25-story building at 77 W. Huron St. will give Archstone-Smith more than 4,000 units in the market, 2,872 of them Downtown. The building, constructed in 1988 and acquired by Oakwood Worldwide in 1999 for $50.9 million, five properties in the River North and Streeterville neighborhoods north of the Loop when the portfolio sale closes this summer. Archstone-Smith already owns the 1,058-unit McClurg Court Center at 333 E. Ontario St., 806-unit One Superior Place, 399-unit River North Park at 320 W. Illinois St. and 305-unit 1 E. Delaware St.

The Chicago properties posted a 3.2% increase in first-quarter net operating income compared to last year, far surpassing the REIT's overall 0.4% increase. However, occupancy in its 3,881 units here was 93.4%, nearly two percentage points less than the portfolio average. "Chicago as a core market has been a laggard," says chairman and chief executive officer R. Scot Sellers. "But we're starting to see some improvement there."