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.”