Crusader Staff Report
Draper & Kramer, the Chicago developer that built the massive Prairie Shores apartment high rises in Bronzeville in the 1950s, is selling the complex after owning it for 58 years.
Golub and Farpoint, two prominent Chicago developers are reportedly teaming up to buy the 1,675-unit complex for $180 million. The transaction would be the largest sale of multifamily property in Chicago since 2007, when the billionaire Pritzker family sold the Presidential Towers property in the Near West Loop for $475 million.
The sale would end an era in Bronzeville, as the neighborhood continues to undergo urban renewal amid concerns of gentrification.
Located on 20 acres on the east side of South Martin Luther King Drive, Prairie Shores’ five towers were built between 1957 and 1961. The complex is just north of Lake Meadows, another massive, 2,000 unit development owned by Draper & Kramer. In addition, Draper & Kramer owns the nearby Lake Meadows shopping plaza on 35th and South King Drive. Draper & Kramer has been in business for 126 years.
The average apartment at Prairie shores rents for $1,158 per month, according to HFF, the commercial marketing firm that serves as the broker of Prairie Shores.
Golub is a 60-year old family business that has high profile properties in Chicago and around the world. Golub owns the iconic Tribune Tower on Michigan avenue and the building formerly known as the John Hancock. The Tribune Tower, once the headquarters of the Chicago Tribune, is currently being converted into luxury condominiums.
Farpoint has been in business for 30 years. The firm is involved in building a massive, mixed-used development on the former site of Michael Reese Hospital next to Prairie Shores. Called the Burnham Lakefront, Farpoint, along with Draper and Kramer and the non-profit Chicago Neighborhood Initiative, wants the development to include 12 million square feet of housing, office and retail space.
