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DOWNERS GROVE, IL-A joint venture between American Realty Advisors, based in Glendale, CA, and M&R Grove Residential LLC, an affiliate of Chicago-based Moran & Co., acquired a 16-acre site at the northwest corner of Butterfield Road and Interstate 355 and has plans to develop an apartment and row home project at the site. A sales price was not disclosed but other sites in the area have sold in the range of $22 per buildable sf to $28 per sf.

The Residences at the Grove will consist of 294 apartment units in three mid-rise buildings and 24 row homes with attached two-car garages in addition to a semi-subterranean level of parking. An estimate for the cost of the development was not disclosed.

The joint venture was interested in the site because the development "is the only apartment project under [development] in the Chicago suburbs and enjoys excellent visibility on I-355," a spokesperson says. The development "has great value potential in that it is the only new construction project in a high barrier-to-entry market."