Kiser Group’s Birk | Sklar team celebrated another active year with the sale of 40 buildings totaling 805 multifamily units. In the last five years, Partners Noah Birk and Aaron Sklar have sold more than 200 apartment buildings throughout Chicago’s south and west side neighborhoods.

“While 2020 presented a number of challenges throughout the real estate industry, I am incredibly proud of our team for selling 40 apartment buildings this year,” said Birk. “The demand for cash-flowing multifamily buildings is as high as I can recall, and 2020 saw the south and west sides of Chicago strongly benefit from that demand.”

Noteworthy Birk | Sklar team transactions in 2020 include:

• 7500 S. Shore, 6914 S. Clyde, 7038 S. Chappel -- located in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, this portfolio totaling 208 units sold for $18,400,000.
• An undisclosed 70-unit apartment building in South Shore that sold for $5,200,000.
• 544 E. Oakwood -- located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, this 19-unit apartment building sold for $2,350,000.
• 7420 S. Colfax -- located in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago, this 27-unit apartment building sold for $2,025,000.
• 1015 N. Pulaski -- located in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago, this 32-unit apartment building sold for $1,900,000.

"The south side of Chicago continues to be an incredibly active multifamily market. We have seen many new investors enter the market this year," said Sklar. "Investors continue to see appreciation and rent growth throughout the area, which continues to fuel growing local, out-of-state and international investor interest."

Kiser Group’s Birk | Sklar team remains the most active group of brokers throughout the Chicago multifamily market. Team members include Noah Birk, Aaron Sklar, Jack Petrando, Justin Turner, Austin Parker and Michael Yangas.

Affordable Housing Investment Brokerage (AHIB) is pleased to announce that Levy House, located at 1221 W. Sherwin Ave. in Chicago’s East Rogers Park neighborhood, has sold for $8.1 million. The brokerage firm partnered on the listing with Kiser Group so that the seller had the benefit of AHIB’s expertise in affordable housing and Kiser Group’s mid-market multifamily expertise in Rogers Park. Kyle Shoemaker, Managing Director of AHIB represented the buyer, Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH), and seller, a non-for-profit.

Levy House is a 57-unit, seven-story apartment building that offers one-bedroom, one-bathroom floor plans. The multifamily property previously operated as elderly housing and Preservation of Affordable Housing plans to keep and expand the property’s rent affordability.

“This is a wonderful property and a great opportunity for us to preserve affordable housing in a rising real estate market,” said Vice President Konrad Schlater, POAH’s project manager. “We’re excited to be working in Rogers Park and adding to our growing North Side portfolio.”   

Upon acquisition, POAH will work with the City of Chicago and Chicago Housing Authority to expand the property’s affordability and execute a rehab and modernization plan. POAH now owns roughly 2,000 apartment units in Chicago.

“As someone specializing in affordable housing sales, it’s great to see that the new ownership will continue with the property’s currently targeted demographic,” said Shoemaker. “While a portion of the property operated with a rent subsidy from the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund, POAH will be able to expand the property’s affordability with additional assistance from the Chicago Housing Authority.”

 “We are honored to have assisted AHIB in this transaction and to close another deal with Kyle,” said Lee Kiser, Principal and Managing Broker at Kiser Group. 

Kiser Group, Chicago’s leading multifamily brokerage firm, advised on the sale of 820-822 Reba Place, a 12-unit multifamily property, in Evanston, Illinois. 820-822 Reba Place sold for $1,675,000 with Director Matt Halper, Advisor Danny Mantis, and Principal and Managing Broker Lee Kiser representing both the buyer and seller. 

“Many tenants were paying below market rents, creating considerable upside for the buyer as leases turn over, without significant capital investments and unit upgrades,” said Mantis. “Despite COVID, interest in multifamily assets in Evanston has remained strong with no detrimental impact on values.”

The Reba Place apartment property offers a unit mix of six one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units and is located four blocks south of Main Street between Chicago Avenue and Ridge Avenue.

“The property is situated less than half a mile away from the Main Street Purple Line stop and the Main Street Metra stop, offering residents convenient access to Evanston’s bustling downtown district with multiple shopping and dining options,” said Halper. 

 Kiser Group, Chicago’s leading multifamily brokerage firm, advised on the sale of Lockport South Apartments in Lockport, Illinois. Located at 551 Diane Court, the 80-unit multifamily property sold for $7,250,000. Director Matt Halper, Advisor Danny Mantis, and Principal and Managing Broker Lee Kiser, represented both the buyer and seller.

“We are thrilled to round out the year with one of the largest 2020 closings in Will County,” said Kiser. “Especially due to the fact that the total transactions in Will Country were one-third of the transactions compared to 2019.”

“Will County’s multifamily market has limited rental inventory, and we continue to see strong investor interest in the area in addition to steady rent growth,” said Halper. “With this acquisition, the new owner is able to achieve immediate scale in the area.”

“Very few sizable apartment properties come to market in Will County. Lockport South Apartments was owned by the same entity since the 1980s. The property has historically high occupancy and collections, which resulted in dozens of property tours and a competitive bidding process,” said Mantis.

Lockport South Apartments consists of 20 two-bedroom, one and a half bathroom townhouse apartments, 20 two-bedroom, one bathroom townhouse apartments and 40 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units.

Kiser Group, Chicago’s leading multifamily brokerage, announces Refiloe Lethunya and Dan Gabbard have joined as Advisors and Michael Yangas as an Associate.

Refiloe Lethunya brings a diverse background in operations and business development to his Advisor role. He will focus his brokerage efforts on the northwest neighborhoods of Chicago. Lethunya joins Kiser Group from a career in sales for a large international marketing company. He is also a former European professional basketball player and was a member of the English National team.

Dan Gabbard joins Kiser Group from a commercial real estate brokerage firm in Indiana, where he earned a CoStar Power Broker award for his success there. Having previously worked a spectrum of commercial real estate product types, Gabbard selected Kiser Group to fulfill his goal of specializing in multifamily investment sales. Gabbard will focus on multifamily properties throughout the north

side of Chicago.

Michael Yangas recently completed his degree at Clemson University, where he focused on finance and real estate studies. He joins Kiser Group’s Birk | Sklar team as an Associate to support the team with underwriting, market research, business development and due diligence process. 

“Although Kiser Group is entering a growth phase, we remain committed to providing only the highest quality advisory and brokerage services possible to our clients, so the integrity, tenacity and savvy of every candidate is carefully considered,” said Principal and Managing Broker Lee Kiser. “We are thrilled to have Refiloe, Dan and Michael on the team.”

 3432-40 W. Franklin Blvd. has been listed for sale by multifamily brokerage firm Kiser Group. The 46-unit multifamily property is located in Chicago’s South Humboldt Park neighborhood. 3432-40 W. Franklin Blvd. is listed for $4,325,000 and represented by Advisors Jack Petrando, Danny Logarakis and Rick Ofman.

“We anticipate seeing local and out-of-state interest for this Opportunity Zone property," said Petrando. “The heavy lifting has already been done, and this multifamily asset is fully renovated and stabilized.”

“3432-40 W. Franklin presents an investor with a rare opportunity to acquire a high unit count property in South Humboldt Park before values climb closer to levels seen in West Town and Wicker Park,” said Logarakis. 

“Multifamily investment properties in this area experience high occupancy rates with long-term tenants and cash flow stronger than similar properties in other Chicago neighborhoods,” said Ofman.

The 3432-40 W. Franklin was originally built in 1927 and was fully gut-renovated by the current owner. Floor plans include 23 one-bedroom, one-bathroom units, 22 two-bedroom, one-bathroom units and 1 three-bedroom, one-bathroom unit. One-bedroom rents range from $624 to $825. Rents for two-bedroom units range from $725 to $1,000 per month, and the three-bedroom unit rents for $1,375 per month.