CRG has unloaded the 134-unit A.M. 1980 apartment building on the border of Bucktown and Logan Square, selling to Chicago-based CedarSt in a deal industry sources peg in the mid-$30 million range that put the city’s new tenant-rights pilot to the test. The seven-story property at 1980 North Milwaukee will be rebranded as The Weyland under its new owner, in what ranks as one of the largest multifamily trades completed inside the Northwest Side Housing Preservation pilot since the ordinance took effect.
How the sale closed
As reported by The Real Deal, CRG closed the sale this week and said working through the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase rules turned the transaction into a “frustrating” slog. The seller told the outlet it sent certified letters to every tenant and leaned on repeated DocuSign follow-ups to collect the written responses the ordinance requires. CedarSt CEO Will Murphy called the purchase a chance to add “one of Chicago’s top multifamily assets” in what he described as a tight, competitive investment market, according to the outlet.
What the Northwest Side pilot requires
The Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance gives tenants in parts of Logan Square, Avondale, Hermosa, Humboldt Park, and West Town a right of first refusal when their buildings go up for sale and hikes demolition surcharges for multiunit properties, according to Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa’s office. For larger buildings, the program sets a series of notice and purchase periods, including a 60-day pre-listing notice and a 90-day right-of-first-refusal window for properties with five or more units, and it requires tenants to show proof of financing if they try to exercise that right. Research from the Institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University finds Chicago has shed a significant share of smaller multi-unit buildings in recent years, a pattern supporters of the ordinance point to as a key rationale.
Debt, timing, and the marketing timeline
CRG developed A.M. 1980 and financed construction with a Principal Life Insurance loan of more than $23 million, later replacing it with a roughly $24 million permanent mortgage in 2021. Property records reviewed by CoStar show the debt’s maturity date was extended twice, most recently into April 2026. That ticking clock, combined with the fact that CRG had already brought the asset to market before the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase rules kicked in, squeezed the sale timeline and forced extra documentation for both the seller and its lenders. CRG first unveiled the AM 1980 project in 2018 in a company announcement released through PR Newswire.
A broken $38M deal and a court fight
Before CedarSt stepped in, a previous deal with Chicago investor Bradford Allen, reportedly at roughly $38 million in November 2024, collapsed and spilled into court. The Real Deal reports that Bradford Allen sued CRG in July seeking the return of a $1.9 million escrow deposit, claiming the seller misrepresented operating expenses and lease details, while CRG contends Bradford Allen, not the seller, failed to live up to its contractual obligations. The dispute remains pending in Cook County Circuit Court, according to court filings cited by the outlet.
The AM 1980 sale shows that Chicago’s tenant-rights pilot has not shut down major multifamily trades, but it has clearly added time, costs, and legal risk to the process, especially for owners who listed properties before the new rules took hold. For landlords and buyers inside the 606 pilot area, the A.M. 1980 transfer is likely to serve as a playbook of sorts: brace for more paperwork, possible delays, and, in some cases, courtroom battles over deposits and disclosures.
