Chicago developer John Buck refinances Mila near Millennium Park - News
In a hot downtown apartment market , many developers are asking: Should I sell or refinance? A group led by Chicago developer John Buck recently picked the latter, taking out a $150 million mortgage on Mila, a new 41- story apartment tower near Millennium Park. The move generated a big payday for Buck and its partners, allowing them to pull about $60 million out of the property without selling it. Like homeowners who extract cash from their homes by taking on more debt, developers and landlords can use cash-out financing amid rising property values to pocket big profits . For some developers, it's an especially appealing move because they can borrow so much more against an occupied property than they can against an unbuilt construction project . It also helps that lenders are so high on apartments, offering plenty of choices and good loan terms for landlords. "We're doing a ton of" refinancings, said Danny Kaufman, managing director in the Chicago office of HFF,...