CHICAGO—Property values in the Fox River Valley towns west of Chicago have been driven up by the area's high occupancies and rising rents. Some companies have moved in to take advantage of the improving conditions. RADCO Companies of Atlanta, for example, recently closed its 19^th real estate purchase in the past 12 months with the acquisition of Covington Court in west suburban St. Charles. The 208-unit multifamily property, currently 94.7 percent occupied, was purchased by RADCO for $19.25 million. RADCO will rebrand the community as Ashford St. Charles.

RADCO Companies, a national real estate company, seeks to acquire underperforming, well-located multifamily assets with value-added potential. The Covington Court acquisition brings the total number of apartment units acquired by RADCO in the past 12 months to over 3,300. Earlier this year, the firm purchased the 226-unit Brittany Group Apartments in Geneva, another Fox River Valley town, and besides rebranding it as Ashford at Geneva, has begun to modernize the community by upgrading its amenities and unit interiors.

“RADCO will continue to look to identify and acquire opportunistic multifamily properties like Covington Court,” says Norman Radow, the company's president and CEO. “There is liquidity in the multifamily sector, and its underlying fundamentals make it a perfect fit for us in today's market. In addition, our reputation in this area of specialty allows us to raise our equity privately, without the need for institutional equity. We have raised over $64 million of private equity to fund our acquisitions.”