Proposed 19‑story, 287‑unit apartment tower at 1221 W. Washington in the West Loop.
West Loop, Chicago, September 13, 2025
A local development team secured roughly $96 million to build a 19‑story, 287‑unit apartment tower at 1221 W. Washington Blvd. The financing package includes a $71.6 million construction loan and $23.9 million in preferred equity. The glass‑and‑brick building will offer studios, one‑ and two‑bedroom units, about 3,000 sq ft of ground‑floor retail and rents starting near $1,799 per month. Targeted for completion in late 2026, the project marks one of few major downtown apartment starts amid tight construction costs and a cautious financing market and could influence future downtown development activity.
A local development team has assembled about $96 million in financing to build a 19‑story, 287‑unit apartment tower at 1221 W. Washington Blvd., just south of the Fulton Market area. The development is a joint venture among three Chicago firms and is backed by a combination of construction debt and preferred equity. The tower is slated for completion in late 2026.
The project’s capital stack includes a $71.6 million construction loan from a major lender and roughly $23.9 million in preferred equity from an institutional investor. Developers say putting the debt and equity together was difficult because of high construction costs and a tight lending market, conditions that have left downtown Chicago with a thin pipeline of new apartment construction.
The tower is one of only a handful of large apartment projects currently moving forward in the central city. Developers and local builders point to persistent construction expenses and a challenging financing climate as the main reasons for the scarcity. One industry source noted that local firms better understand neighborhood demand and have been working hard to convince outside investors to join deals.
The 19‑story building will be clad in glass and brick and will include a mix of studio, one‑ and two‑bedroom units described by the development team as generally smaller in size to offer a more affordable option for renters seeking proximity to the former meatpacking district turned office and entertainment hub. The ground floor will include approximately 3,000 square feet of retail space, and monthly rents are expected to start at about $1,799.
The tower is targeted to be finished in late 2026. Developers would not confirm the project’s total development cost; earlier plans from the project’s initial proposal suggested total costs near $100 million.
The lead developer in the joint venture has a long local record that includes co‑developing apartment and office projects in the Fulton Market area, plus large suburban mall redevelopments that added hundreds of apartments. The joint venture partners are also active elsewhere: a related partnership recently broke ground on another 19‑story apartment tower in the South Loop.
A nearly 18‑month pause in major ground‑up projects getting financed downtown eased in May when a separate developer secured significant construction funding for a tall Fulton Market tower. Despite that, the downtown supply pipeline remains thin and is not expected to materially improve until later in the decade. At the same time, Class A monthly net rents downtown rose in the second quarter of 2025, signaling continued tenant demand and upward rent pressure.
Nearby, a proposed 27‑story mixed‑use residential tower has revealed updated plans after several years in the pipeline. The revised design shows a three‑story podium with parking for roughly 70 vehicles and a roughly 30,000‑square‑foot community center intended to serve the park across the street. The podium will be topped by a fourth‑floor outdoor field house with basketball, tennis and pickleball courts. The tower above would hold 193 residences, including an increased count of condos concentrated on upper floors with large terraces and multi‑bedroom layouts geared toward families. The team plans a year of condo presales and still needs local approvals before breaking ground.
Separately, a 35‑story luxury apartment tower built in 2015 and totaling 350 units is reported to be under agreement for acquisition by an international investor as that investor launches a U.S. property platform. That pending transaction is part of a broader trend this year in which large apartment towers sold at discounts as buyers with capital sought opportunities amid a sluggish investment market. The sale and a separate disposition of a renovated 28‑story apartment community earlier in the cycle reflect active repositioning by institutional owners.
The West Loop tower’s path forward will depend on continued coordination among the joint‑venture partners, timely construction draws from the lender, and steady preleasing once units are available. Community permitting and market conditions will also shape pace and outcomes for the nearby mixed‑use tower seeking approvals and for any prospective sales of existing apartments in the area.
The development team has secured roughly $71.6 million in construction debt and about $23.9 million in preferred equity, for approximately $96 million total.
A local joint venture of Chicago development firms is leading the project, partnering on equity and management to build the 19‑story tower.
The project is targeted for completion in late 2026, assuming steady construction progress and no major market disruptions.
The tower will have 287 units with a mix of studios, one‑ and two‑bedroom apartments. Units are generally on the smaller side to provide a more affordable entry point near Fulton Market.
Monthly rents are anticipated to start around $1,799.
A proposed 27‑story mixed‑use tower nearby has updated plans that add a large community center and increase the number of condominiums. Also, a 350‑unit tower from 2015 is reported to be under agreement for acquisition by an international investor launching a U.S. real estate platform.
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Address | 1221 W. Washington Blvd. |
| Height | 19 stories |
| Units | 287 apartments (studios, 1BR, 2BR) |
| Construction loan | $71.6 million |
| Preferred equity | $23.9 million |
| Target completion | Late 2026 |
| Retail | Approx. 3,000 sq ft ground‑floor space |
| Starting rent | About $1,799/month |
| Exterior | Glass and brick |
| Developer partners | Local joint venture of three Chicago firms |
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