Draper and Kramer Closes $93.5M Refinance for The Elizabeth Multifamily Tower in Chicago's Fulton Market
Draper and Kramer's Commercial Finance Group has closed a $93.5 million refinancing for The Elizabeth, a 28-story, 350-unit Class A multifamily tower located at 225 N. Elizabeth St. in Chicago's Fulton Market submarket. The transaction closed Sept. 8, 2026, and replaces the original construction financing used to deliver the approximately $110 million development.
Deal Details and Capital Stack
The refinancing was arranged by Draper and Kramer's Commercial Finance Group on behalf of the property's sponsors, Sterling Bay and Ascentris. Senior vice presidents Bill Barry and Bill Stewart led the assignment for Draper and Kramer.
The $93.5 million loan equates to approximately $267,100 per unit based on the property's 350 residential units. The Elizabeth was completed in 2024 and includes roughly 10,000 square feet of street-level retail space in addition to its residential component. The 2026 refinancing comes approximately two years after delivery, a timeline consistent with a newly stabilized Class A apartment tower transitioning from construction debt to longer-term permanent financing.
Sterling Bay is a Chicago-based developer. Ascentris is a Denver-based institutional real estate investment management firm.
Property Overview: The Elizabeth in Fulton Market
The Elizabeth rises 28 stories in Chicago's Fulton Market, one of the city's most active mixed-use submarkets. The high-rise tower contains 350 residential units and approximately 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The property was completed in 2024, positioning it among the newer Class A multifamily deliveries in the submarket.
Fulton Market, situated within Chicago's broader West Loop, has emerged as a high-demand residential node anchored by technology, creative office, and restaurant and entertainment uses. The submarket's growth has supported strong leasing fundamentals for institutional-quality multifamily assets.
Chicago Multifamily Market Context
The refinancing reflects continued lender appetite for Class A multifamily assets in one of Chicago's most active submarkets. Chicago's broader multifamily market has shown tightening vacancy conditions, with metro-wide vacancy declining to approximately 4.2% as net absorption outpaced new supply over the past year. Class A vacancy across the metro has hovered near 5.0%, while asking rents have trended upward on a year-over-year basis.
Market cap rates in Chicago have normalized in the range of approximately 6% to 6.8% as financing conditions have adjusted to the broader interest rate environment. Despite that adjustment, lenders have remained competitive for well-leased, institutionally sponsored multifamily assets in core submarkets such as Fulton Market, where demand drivers remain intact.
Strategic Rationale for the Refinance
The transaction represents a standard transition from construction financing to permanent debt for a newly delivered multifamily asset. Construction loans for large-scale residential projects are typically shorter-term and floating-rate instruments; refinancing into a permanent structure allows sponsors to establish more predictable debt service as the asset reaches stabilized occupancy.
For Sterling Bay and Ascentris, the refinancing closes out the construction capital stack on a project that carried a total development cost of approximately $110 million. The $93.5 million loan represents a significant take-out of that original investment basis.
Draper and Kramer is a Chicago-based real estate firm whose Commercial Finance Group arranges debt financing for multifamily and commercial properties.