Waterton owns and manages four other rental communities in the Chicago area comprising nearly 3,250 units. It recently sold One East Delaware, a luxury rental community in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, to Golub & Co. and its partner Alcion Ventures for about $145 million. But Stern says that sale was not part of any effort to refocus its attention on the West Loop, or any neighborhood in particular. ”In general, we always assume we're going to own a property for about five years, and with that one we were at the end of our business plan.”

The company has done a number of significant value-add projects, but this new acquisition does not fall in that category. It's a set of new buildings, all in good condition, so Waterton's capital plan is very minimal, Stern says. “We also look forward to leasing the two ground-floor retail spaces that are currently occupied by the former owner, who developed the property in 2014.”

CHICAGO—Waterton just became the latest apartment investor to stake a claim in the burgeoning West Loop neighborhood. The Chicago-based firm has acquired an 81-unit rental community located at 20 N. Aberdeen St., one block south of McDonald's future headquarters. Formerly known as Madison Aberdeen Place, Waterton has rebranded the property as The Aberdeen West Loop.

Creative and high tech office users by the score have settled in the former industrial area, bringing in their wake thousands of apartment dwellers that want to live near their jobs. And that has investors like Waterton and others ready to swoop in.

“We like Chicago in general, but we are especially focused on the city's downtown,” Mark Stern, senior vice president of acquisitions at Waterton, tells GlobeSt.com. And the West Loop might be the most vibrant area adjacent to the CBD. Once the new McDonald's campus and Sterling Bay's nearby Vendor Village open, the neighborhood will have about 900,000 square feet of additional office space, and “that should really help with the leasing.”

Other prominent investors have recently bought up luxury apartments nearby. American Realty Advisors, an institutional real estate investment manager that already owns 1KFulton, the home of Google and the neighborhood's most prominent office space, just bought The Madison at Racine, a 216-unit luxury apartment community at 1164 W. Madison St.

Waterton owns and manages four other rental communities in the Chicago area comprising nearly 3,250 units. It recently sold One East Delaware, a luxury rental community in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, to Golub & Co. and its partner Alcion Ventures for about $145 million. But Stern says that sale was not part of any effort to refocus its attention on the West Loop, or any neighborhood in particular. ”In general, we always assume we're going to own a property for about five years, and with that one we were at the end of our business plan.”

The company has done a number of significant value-add projects, but this new acquisition does not fall in that category. It's a set of new buildings, all in good condition, so Waterton's capital plan is very minimal, Stern says. “We also look forward to leasing the two ground-floor retail spaces that are currently occupied by the former owner, who developed the property in 2014.”