
UBS Puts River North Apartments on the Block After 15-Year Hold
UBS Realty Investors has hired CBRE to sell the Bernardin, a 171-unit apartment tower in River North, Crain’s Chicago Business reported. The latest in a recent series of landlords looking to cash out of Chicago’s downtown apartment market, UBS has owned the Bernardin since late 2005, when it paid $89.4 million for the 25-story property.
“Downtown Chicago’s apartment market has staged one of the strongest urban market recoveries in the country,” CBRE says in its marketing brochure.
The Bernardin has also staged a comeback. Its occupancy rate dropped to 85% in 2020, down from 94% in 2019, but now stands at 99%. Its retail space is fully leased.
However, it’s not clear whether UBS would garner more from a sale than the purchase price, Crain’s reported. NOI declined 20% in 2020 from the year prior, but even if NOI recovered to 2019 levels, it would still fall below 2005.
- ◦Sale/Acquisition