(Mark your calendars: RealShare Apartments, Oct. 20th in Los Angeles)

CHICAGO-Related Midwest, a division of New York City-based Related Cos., will appear Wednesday with AFL-CIO Building Investment Trust officials to kick off their partnership to build the $157 million apartment tower at 500 N. Lake Shore Dr. About 500 units will be built in a 45-story tower west of Navy Pier downtown.

Officials with the two companies will hold a ground-breaking ceremony at 10 a.m. Wednesday. The building is expected to be complete by September 2013.

A spokesman with the Washington, DC-based trust tells GlobeSt.com that the AFL-CIO is the equity partner in the venture. Since 1988, the trust has invested more than $4 billion for the development and acquisition of more than 160 office, retail, multifamily, hotel, warehouse and mixed-use properties across the country. The trust, which provides returns for its pension plan participants, also creates union jobs through the developments.

The spokesman says in the past 12 months, the trust has invested $242 million in three properties, including this Chicago tower. The other two properties are the 216-unit Flux Apartments in Minneapolis ($37 million trust investment) and the 193-unit Cooper at Youngstown Apartments in Seattle ($48 million trust investment). “Chicago is a great market, and fits into our strategy of investing in 24-hour, gateway cities,” the spokesman says.

Related also recently spent $26 million to purchase the failed Waterview Tower project at 111 W. Wacker Dr., and plans to redevelop the former condo project into 500 apartment units. Related and Wells Fargo are also investing $100 million in the redevelopment of Parkway Gardens on the city’s South Side. Curt Bailey, president of Related Midwest, could not be reached for this story.

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