By Chicago Real Estate Daily
CHICAGO—Twenty-six new luxury condominiums and townhomes at the Eastgate Village community on the city’s Near South Side have been sold in a lender-owned bulk inventory sale to an investor, according to Paul D. Dincin, principal in Catapult Real Estate Solutions, an asset manager specializing in receiverships and bank-owned distressed properties. The buyer is Eastgate Development, LLC, a Northbrook-based real estate investment and development firm.
“The property sold of $4.1 million, which is an excellent disposition value for a fractured condominium project,” said Jim Darrow of Essex Realty, who was the listing agent that represented the bank on the transaction along with Jordan Gottlieb. Matt Welke, also of Essex Realty, represented Eastgate Development in the deal.
“We had a tremendous amount of activity on the Eastgate Village property,” said Darrow. “Nearly a dozen offers were made from qualified investors, and all wanted to resell the units like condos and townhomes and not rent them out. All this activity indicates that developers are coming back into the market for a well-located investment property.”
“Catapult’s mission is to help banks, special servicers and other financial institutions deal with distressed multifamily properties, fractured condominium developments and commercial real estate assets,” said Dincin.
“The Catapult team did an amazing job, on behalf of the bank, preparing the property for sale as its asset managers,” Darrow said. “They reinvigorated the property by acting as a surrogate developer and taking care of all the project details.”
“Our primary goal was to keep the project on track and the units in move-in condition,” said Brian Columbus, a partner in Chicago-based Catapult Real Estate Solutions. “In addition, we obtained the FHA-financing approval and worked with the homeowners association to keep the project in good standing.”
Eastgate Village is a master-planned community of 107 homes located just south of McCormick Place and just west of Lake Shore Drive at 26th Street and South Martin Luther King Drive.
The Eastgate Village community features a mix of 3-story townhomes and walk-up condominium buildings. The community was developed over the past few years on land acquired from Mercy Hospital.
The 16 two-bedroom and three-bedroom townhomes showcase 2 to 3.5 baths and living areas ranging from 1,998 square feet to 2,647 square feet. The townhomes feature an entry-level family room, a main-level balcony, a rooftop deck, plus a 2-car garage.
Nine of the townhomes are unfinished. The buyers acquired plans and permits for the unfinished units as part of the deal.
According to a principal of Eastgate Development, “the goal for the project is to offer buyers the same quality of the units for a much lower price.” The developer plans to complete nine unfinished townhomes and bring them to the market by early 2012.
The 10 two-bedroom and three-bedroom condominiums have from 823 to 1,450 square feet of space. Each condominium includes an attached indoor garage space. Condos and townhomes originally were priced from the mid-$200,000 range to the $500,000-bracket. Eighty-one units were sold by the original developer.
All finished townhomes and condos feature kitchens with stainless steel appliances, maple cabinets and granite countertops. Hardwood floors and tiled bathrooms are standard.
The community features a campus-style design, with brick entry monuments, brick and stone building facades, green space and wide sidewalks. “Eastgate Village has a sense of privacy with a lack of pass-through streets, yet there is quick access to Interstate 55 and Lake Shore Drive,” Columbus said.
Catapult Real Estate Solutions is a leader in the specialized field of asset management and workout strategies in today’s complex real estate market.
“Our team provides in-depth asset analysis, workout strategies, feasibility studies, construction completion, sales and leasing management and manages dispositions of REO assets,” said Dincin. “Our development, property management, sales and legal experience add immediate value by resolving problems that prevent sales or leasing efforts and ultimately cause equity erosion.”
Dincin and Columbus have vast experience in residential development for the last 15 years, specializing in multifamily projects in Chicago, Milwaukee, and Minneapolis with Tandem Developers, a company Dincin founded.
“We have the expertise to act as a surrogate developer for lenders to put the shine back on troubled projects,” Dincin, who noted that Catapult Real Estate Solutions currently is doing workouts for several of Chicago’s top banks.
“We had a very good experience working with Essex Realty Group and feel that they did a great job of maximizing the sales value for our client,” Dincin said.
