OC is about to double UIC after acquiring Automatic Loft in a student housing complex on the West Loop across from the university’s Eisenhower Freeway for nearly $51 million in 2019. He purchased X through his CrowdStreet, a crowdfunding company, according to his website at CrowdStreet.
PMG operates X as a co-living property, renting out apartments by bed rather than by unit like a student residence. According to a recent online presentation by his OC executive on the CrowdStreet website, OC’s management company, Varsity Campus, plans to shift the focus of the property by catering more directly to students.
The company’s West Loop property, now called Letterman Chicago, is performing very well, with rents up 12.6% year-over-year, said Steve Zhang, OC’s chief investment officer. said in the presentation. of UIC students. According to CrowdStreet’s website, the school’s enrollment is currently around 34,000, an increase of 17.4% for him over the past five years, hence the high UIC.
Chicago’s college housing market has expanded over the past 10-15 years, supported by schools such as UIC, DePaul University, Columbia College of Chicago, and Roosevelt University. Dormitory owners suffered during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic as many students lived at home with their parents and took classes remotely. A 454-bed building in East His Loop, Buckingham, was hit by his $45 million foreclosure lawsuit at the end of 2020.
However, the market has recovered over the past year as students return to campus. And Buckingham owner Aliso Viejo (his Versity Investments, based in California) was able to finalize a deal with the lender to avoid the loss of assets through foreclosure. Versity put Buckingham up for sale earlier this year, but the property did not sell.
Founded in 2015, OC owns eight student housing properties throughout the county, including Albany, NY; Buffalo, NY; Auburn, AL; and Greensboro, NC. The company plans to spend a total of $35.4 million on X, including costs and renovations. costs and other charges, according to the CrowdStreet site. In addition to his $10.5 million to be raised through CrowdStreet, OC plans to invest approximately $1.2 million in treasury stock in the property and borrow $23.8 million to finance the project.
As a crowdfunding platform, Austin, Texas-based CrowdStreet raises small sums of money from private investors to finance the acquisition and development of real estate. The minimum investment for X trading is $25,000. CrowdStreet said he has set a funding deadline of August 19th.
PMG sells X Chicago just months after selling L Logan Square, a 140-unit apartment in Logan Square, for $42 million. PMG officials did not respond to requests for comment.