Tall & Urban News

Lendlease and Magellan Development have landed US$283 million in construction financing for their two residential towers rising in Chicago’s Lakeshore East. The projects will have a combined 853 units, which is 13 fewer than had been planned.

The developers are building the 52-story Cirrus tower, which will feature 350 condos; and the 37-story Cascade apartment tower, which will have 503 units. The projects will rise at the mouth of the Chicago River, with a completion date slated for 2021. Sales on the Cirrus began in April 2019.

Four lenders, led by CIBC, provided the syndicate financing for the 42-month development loans, Lendlease said in a statement. The others were United Overseas Bank Limited, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited and the Union Labor Life Insurance Company. Both loans included 12-month extensions.

The debt package consisted of US$174 million for the Cirrus and US$109 million for the Cascade tower, property records show.

The loans closed in February 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic sent markets into a tailspin.

Lendlease’s head of Chicago development, Ted Weldon, said the loans “underscore the continued strength of the residential market in downtown Chicago, where we’re seeing demand for both rental and for-sale residences, sometimes in the same development.”

The project will rise on the last four acres of the greater Lakeshore East development. Partner Magellan was the original developer of the entire 50-acre (20-hectare) Lakeshore East site, said Weldon in December 2019.

For more on this story, go to The Real Deal.