Beginning in 2016, a spate of high-rise buildings rose in downtown Oak Park. Vantage, The Emerson Apartments, Albion and Eleven33 were built between 2016 and 2019, bringing a combined 1068 luxury apartments to Oak Park.
With the recent sale of Eleven33 in November, we take a look at the buildings, their rents, property taxes and the transfer taxes paid to the village each time one of these buildings changes hands. The transfer tax rate is $8 per thousand of the selling price.
Each of the buildings are classified as property class 3-97 by the Cook County assessor, meaning they are apartment buildings with more than 7 units and some portion of the building set aside for commercial usage.
Vantage/ ReNew
The first of the four to rise above Lake Street was Vantage, a 21-story building at 150 Forest Ave. The building opened to renters in 2016 and includes 270 apartments.
The building has a mix of studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units. Early rental prices started around $1,700 for a one-bedroom unit and rose to over $2,800 for a two-bedroom. Today, the rent of a one-bedroom unit begins around $2,200 and a two-bedroom goes for more than $3,300 a month.
In 2018, Magnolia Capital and Goldman Sachs paid about $102.8 million for the building. In July of 2024, San Francisco-based FPA Multifamily paid $78.25 million for the property. At the time of the 2024 sale, the building was 96.2% occupied. Today, there are 18 apartments at ReNew listed for rent on Apartments.com.
According to Cook County records, the property has a 2024 assessed value of $5,131,961, which translates to an estimated property value of $51,319,610. In 2024, the building’s property tax bill was $906,843.72.
The Emerson
Next up, is The Emerson, which opened its doors in 2017. Located at 1135 Westgate St., The Emerson contains 270 units inside its 20-story frame. The Emerson offers studios, one bedroom and two-bedroom apartments with different floor plans to choose from.
Early in its tenure, rents at The Emerson ranged from $1,608 per month for a studio to over $3,300 for a two-bedroom. Today, rents at the Emerson range from $1,900 for a studio to over $3,900 for a two-bedroom unit. There are currently 16 apartments listed for rent at The Emerson on Apartments.com.
In 2024, VA8 Emerson, LLC of Irvine, California purchased the building from LMC Oak Park Holdings, LLC, the original developer of the building, for $60,250,000.
The Cook County property tax portal has no property tax records for 1135 Westgate St. in Oak Park.
Eleven33
Open to renters in 2019, Eleven33 is located at 1133 South Blvd. The 12-story building has 263 units, including studios, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.
At the time it opened, studios rents were just over $1,600, one-bedrooms starting at $1,800, two-bedrooms starting at around $2,650 and three-bedrooms staring at $5,949. Today, 1133 does not advertise its rent prices on-line or through apartment search engines.
This November, Draper & Karmer, a Chicago-based developer, purchased the building for $88.5 million. While the building does not advertise available units on Apartments.com, a press release at the time of the sale indicated the building was 95% leased. The press release indicated that rents in the building start at $1945.
According to Cook County, the property had a 2024 assessment of $6,144,987, which translates to an estimated property value of $61,449,870. The property had a 2024 tax bill of $1,748,453.11.
Albion
The Albion, at 1005 Lake St., is the only building of the four that has not changed hands since it was built in 2019. The 19-story building includes 265 units from studios up to three bedrooms.
When it opened, studios rented from $1,495 and up; one-bedrooms from $1,920 and up; two-bedrooms at $2,910 and up, and three-bedroom units ranged from $4,715 to a top price of $5,450. Today, available studios are priced at $1795 and up and two bedrooms start at $3875 and top out at $4995.
On Apartments.com, Albion currently lists 13 apartments available to rent.
In 2024, the Albion had an assessed value of $6,890,445 with an estimated property value of $68,904,450. Albion’s 2024 property tax bill ran $2,245,150.42.
Transfer Taxes
Each time one of these buildings changes hands, a transfer tax is generated in the amount of $8 per $1,000 of sales price, netting the village revenue.
Dan Yopchick, chief communications officer for Oak Park, said in an email: “Real estate transfer taxes are fully explained in Article 23A-1 of the Village Code. Basically, the real estate transfer tax is imposed on all sales of real property, both residential and commercial, where there are a transfer of title and an exchange of money or other assets. The tax on these sales is $8.00 per thousand dollars of the sales price. Where there is no exchange of cash or assets (such as a transfer of property to a trust) there is a fee of $30.00. With a couple of exceptions, stated in Article 23A-1-14, all real estate transfer taxes are deposited into the General Fund.”
The recent sale of Eleven33 netted the village roughly $708,000 in transfer taxes, and the village received $482,000 from the 2024 sale of The Emerson. The 2024 sale of the Vantage, now ReNew, added roughly $626,000 to the village coffers.
