An affiliate of Prime Finance has taken control of the 190-unit MDA Apartments at 63 East Lake Street in Chicago’s East Loop, paying $59 million and bringing a two-year foreclosure showdown with developer Jonathan Holtzman to a close. The transaction wiped out a lender claim that had grown toward $69 million and came with a judge-approved voluntary dismissal of the foreclosure case.
According to The Real Deal, the San Francisco-based lender affiliate paid $59 million for the high-rise, and a judge signed off on the voluntary dismissal of Prime’s $69 million foreclosure on June 18, 2026. Court filings show the agreement effectively shaved about $7 million off the lender’s claimed balance. Prime had already asked a judge in early 2025 to appoint Matthew Mason of Hilco Global as receiver. His reports flagged a laundry list of maintenance and safety issues, including two of the building’s four boilers being out of service, one elevator that was down and rooftop pavers and fencing described as a “life safety issue,” although he reported that operations had stabilized in the months after his appointment.
Why the lender grabbed the keys
Prime Finance’s move to take title fits a growing playbook among lenders that prefer to resolve souring apartment loans quickly in markets where the fundamentals still tilt in favor of owners. Data from Cushman & Wakefield shows effective rents across the Chicago metro climbing 3.2 percent year over year through the second quarter of 2026, which keeps multifamily relatively appealing for a lender trying to cap its losses.
What this means for Holtzman
The sale ends the fight over the East Loop property for Holtzman and his partners, but it does not clear the broader financial cloud around his Chicago holdings. The Real Deal reports that Old National Bank is chasing a claim of roughly $22 million tied to a 147-unit building at 860 North DeWitt Place in the Gold Coast, where a receiver is still running the show. Holtzman’s amenity-heavy downtown projects have been well chronicled in local media, including coverage by the Chicago Sun-Times, yet the recent burst of lender actions has put several of his Chicago assets under tighter scrutiny.
For tenants and brokers, the near-term fallout at MDA Apartments is expected to be more bureaucratic than dramatic. A Prime Finance affiliate now holds the title while it weighs whether to pump in capital, continue operating the asset or put it on the market. In the meantime, the receiver’s stabilization work should help keep the building on an even keel while the new owner maps out a longer-term plan.
