Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Horizon Realty Buys 5050 N. Sheridan For $10.5M

via Chicago Real Estate Daily:
via Google Street View
North Side apartment investor Horizon Realty Group paid $10.5 million for a 170-unit vintage apartment building at 5050 N. Sheridan Road. Horizon plans to spend another $4 million renovating the building’s common areas and apartments and on other improvements, says Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Michael. “We think there’s a market for it in Uptown,” he says. “A lot of these vintage buildings are frozen in time and haven’t been updated.” The seller was Bowling Green, Ky.-based Chandler Property Management, which bought the debt on the 91-year-old building and then foreclosed on it, says Lee Kiser, principal of Kiser Group, the Chicago brokerage that sold the property. The price equates to a first-year return, or capitalization rate, of 7.5%, according to a Kiser Group document. Horizon owns about 1,800 apartments in North Side neighborhoods.

UU Note: Might we suggest Horizon checks out 1325 W. Wilson for their next rehab? Pretty please?

19 comments:

  1. Judging from their other buildings in Uptown, Horizon has been a pretty good neighbor.

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  2. Without TIF money??? So it can be done!

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  3. Call me a crazy optimist, but i am expecting to see some good things for our hood over the next 5-10 years. Businesses will see this area as a neighborhood of opportunity now that they don't have to deal with Helen's Utopian Plan. Hopefully, our new alderman will hold the social services to some higher standards or send them packing. And these and other positive developments will force out some of the gang elements when they don't have such a large, easy market to sell their 'products'. I know it's more complicated than that, but it's a start.

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  4. Why doesn't Horizon purchase the Maryville property instead of Sedgwick? I bet they would put in a development that would reflect the scale of the surrounding neighborhood. Just a thought.

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  5. @ Ray I agree. I think there is a different attitude in Uptown. This will not be a painless transition, but change never is. The 5-10 years will be very interesting.

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  6. Why doesn't Horizon purchase the Maryville property? Because, the Maryville property has to be razed and then a brand new development must be built. It's a lot more cost efficient to purchase an existing solid building and rehab it for rental units.

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  7. My question is, when does the crack down on those living illegally/permanently at shelters start? When are building inspectors going to start visiting folks at Lawrence House, the JPUSA buildings, Cornerstone, REST, Wilson Mens Hotel, Loralei, etc? I think everyone understands we do not want to be Lincoln Park, but I sure would like to see some of the laws in place be followed.. now that is when I will believe things are improving...

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  8. SIR!, the only shelters that shouldn't have long-term guests are the temporary overnight shelters that get public funding from the City. The plan to end homelessness specifies that people living in those shelters need to be transitioned into a more permanent living situation with X amount of days (don't know what the time limits are).

    Others, like privately-owned Lawrence House, the Lorelai, Bachelor Apartments, Wilson Men's Club, can have people live there as long as they want to. They're rentals.

    Places that receive public funding like REST's SROs also don't have a limit on how long people can live there. It's permanent housing, which is the goal. It's giving someone a place to live and leave their belongings, a place where they can be 24 hours a day.

    Basically, any place that gets public funding that kicks the people out in the morning and takes them back in at night is a temporary overnight shelter and needs to be working on finding permanent placement for those overnight guests.

    SROs and residential hotels are the permanent housing that is the goal.

    And of course any overnight shelter that doesn't receive public funding -- if there is such a thing - wouldn't have to comply with the City's regulations, either.

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  9. Toniacita, I noticed how you completely ignored my building code comments...I wonder why...hmmm...

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  10. I thought the REST shelter was only open overnight?

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  11. It would be nice if Somerset would get a market rate rental makeover as well. The added foot traffic might help give this blighted and dangerous stretch of Sheridan some life.

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  12. Uptown SuperHero!, are you and Sir! the same person? Addicted to the explanation point!

    ! ! !

    I didn't ignore your question about when the city inspectors will come. I thought it was rhetorical, as it's unanswerable by anyone outside of a city insider and I'm hardly that. I was just trying to explain, because I thought you didn't understand, that people don't live "illegally" in places like the Lorelai and Wilson Men's Hotel, because they're private rentals. As for the building inspectors, you'll have to take that up with the city. As you must know, Lawrence House is already in Housing Court due to numerous violations.

    Meg, REST owns and operates several SROs and has four-month transitional housing, as well as the overnight shelters. I've donated furniture and household goods to them for use in their SRO program.

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  13. Thank you Toniacita. I see that their site at People's Church is an emergency shelter. I have spoken with an individual who has lived at that emergency shelter site for decades.

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  14. and one of those decade-long residents told me he receives disability and at one point had saved a few thousand dollars in the bank. why he has not been transitioned to an apartment and still remains in interim or emergency housing is beyond me.

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  15. Horizon a good neighbor? I lived next to them on Sheridan and Montrose and the side of the building was a dumping ground and lets not forget........

    The lawsuite that was filed for the twitter comment. They are a sue first kind of landlord.

    Give me a break......

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  16. I could care less about the twitter nonsense and Horizon did a great job with Sheridan Plaza at Sheridan and Wilson.

    then

    http://www.uptownupdate.com/2009/07/dark-days-for-sheridan-plaza.html

    now

    http://www.uptownupdate.com/2010/04/renovated-sheridan-plaza-apartments.html

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  17. Per the Horizon lawsuit, it was dismissed by the Cook County Court due to the claim not reaching the definition of libel.

    Here's Horizon's response to the Twitter issue.

    Personally, I don't have an opinion, nor - like Alek said - do I care.

    Amanda Bonnen did file suit against them, prior to her tweet, as she thought they'd violated Chicago Landlord Residential Tenant ordinance. I'm not sure the details or the result.

    Horizon may be a bad company, or Bonnen may just be a PITA. Dunno.

    But, they did do a nice job with the Sheridan, and if they're only being sued by one person .. meh. I'm happy to give 'em a shot.

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  18. FWIW it looks there has been extensive work going on at this building for some time, ie dumpster sitting outside, workers buzzing in and out. It also looks like the street level space on the southside of the building has gotten an overhaul.

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  19. FWI the lobby and units in this builings have unsurprisingly turned out great...hopefully they land some cool tenants for the retail spaces.

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