SOUTH LOOP — More apartments are on deck in the South Loop, where a developer plans to convert a Motor Row loft to more than 100 apartments.
A venture led by Chicago-based 3L Real Estate on Friday bought the five-story warehouse at 57 E. 21st St., with plans to spend $10 million on the apartment conversion, 3L chief Joseph Slezak said. Rents are expected to start at $1,095 per month.
"We believe it should be possible for students, recent graduates and a young growing workforce to live in popular urban neighborhoods like the South Loop, in well-appointed living spaces that allow them to enjoy all that the neighborhood and the surrounding city has to offer,” Slezak said in a statement.
The warehouse, formerly home to Yellow Cab, will be converted imnto 110 apartments including studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units, the company said in a news release. The deal is 3L's second here after its conversion of former dorms at the University of Chicago to apartments.
Property records show 3L bought the property from Chicago-based Marc Realty Residential, which paid nearly $4 million last year for the building.
A sale price has yet to be recorded, David Ruttenberg of Marc Realty said the firm planned its own apartment conversion until it was swayed by 3L's "pretty good price."
The apartments would be the latest in the South Loop, where thousands of units are planned as the city looks to redevelop the area around McCormick Place and developers run out of land in more established Downtown neighborhoods.
