CHICAGO—The apartment market in Chicago continues to boom, but with land and construction prices on the rise, many developers and investors have become a bit more cautious. But Chicago is brimming with thousands of older condos that would be difficult to sell again, and that presents opportunities for developers that want alternative ways to create rentals. Present-day condo buyers demand more space and better finishes than many older condos provide, but these units can work very well as apartments.
However, developers need to have the right strategy, and the right kind of project, to further lessen their risk. State law, for example, requires that 75% of the owners agree to sell before the condo association can be dissolved.
“It's much easier to take an existing property and turn it into multifamily rather than building something from scratch, but if you don't get to 75%, you're not going to get financing,” Sonny Ginsberg, an attorney with Ginsberg Jacobs, tells GlobeSt.com. He has represented buyers and lenders on these kinds of deals, and also spoke on a panel at Marcus & Millichap's recent Multifamily Forum in Chicago, where many attendees wanted to discuss condo deconversion.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
