Shy Town's Luxury UpGrade

Chicago—Fifield Companies and Wood Partners have broken ground on K2, a 34-story luxury apartment community located in the West Loop’s K Station master-planned community. It is the development’s fifth and final apartment building.

“We’re thrilled with the continued success of K Station, and look forward to K2 being the grand finale of this incredible development,” says Randy Fifield, vice chair and principal with Fifield Companies. “Anticipating market demand and being ahead of the curve on trends is what we do best. The construction of K Station coincided with the downturn in the for-sale residential market, and we were able to fill a need for upscale apartments with stellar on-site amenities.”

K2 will include 496 units and 348 parking spaces. The unit mix includes studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Completion is scheduled for 2013. The development represents the first ground-up project for Wood Partners in the Chicago area.

“With our recent expansion to the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast regions, Chicago is one of the last major metropolitan areas Wood Partners has yet to enter and it really rounds out our national presence,” says Patrick Trask, central regional director for Wood Partners. “Chicago has seen very little new supply of apartments over the last few years, and combined with recent positive announcements, it makes an attractive market for us.”

K2 will have an impressive roster of amenities, including a 70-foot outdoor pool, deck with cabanas, business center with separate boardroom, a theater with a 120-inch projection television and stadium-style seating, and a fitness center with a yoga room and basketball court. The building also has a bike storage room than can accommodate 200 bicycles.

Financing for the project was provided by a consortium of commercial banks including The PrivateBank Chicago (the leading lender), Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Cole Taylor Bank, and Bank of the West.

Fifield first broke ground at K Station seven years ago with Left Bank at K Station. The next two projects were Echelon at K Station and the two-tower Alta at K Station.

Praedium Group, Chartwell Holdings buys Florida asset for $32M

Sanford, Fla.—A joint venture between The Praedium Group and Chartwell Holdings has acquired Westlake Apartments, a 379-unit, ten-building community located in Sanford, Fla., for $32 million. The acquisition represents the first time the two companies have partnered up. Chartwell Management LLC will serve as the local managing agent.

“This acquisition fit well into our strategy of acquiring new, high-quality multifamily assets in growth corridors,” says Mark Lippmann, managing director of The Praedium Group.

Westlake Apartments is comprised of two- and three-story buildings with units that feature nine-foot ceilings, full-size washer/dryers and oversized walk-in closets. Community amenities include two swimming pools with cabanas, a fitness center, two lighted tennis courts, an indoor racquetball court, two playgrounds, two lakes, barbecue areas and a business center.

NorthMarq arranges $28.5M mortgage for Class A property West Des Moines, Iowa—John Bendon, senior vice president and managing director of NorthMarq Capital’s Omaha Regional office, arranged first mortgage financing in the amount of $28.5 million for Broadmoor at Jordan Creek, a 310-unit multifamily community located at 6565 Wistful Vista Drive in West Des Moines,

Financing was based on a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization schedule and was arranged for the borrower by NorthMarq through its Seller-Servicer relationship with Freddie Mac. Bendon states, “This is a brand new Class A property in the premier area of West Des Moines.”