Marcus & Millichap Arranges Sale of 120-Unit Lotus Gardens Multifamily Property in Skokie, Illinois
Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Lotus Gardens, a 120-unit multifamily property located at 8501 Lotus Ave in Skokie, Illinois, approximately 16 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. The transaction, announced Sept. 2, 2026, transferred the asset from a private owner who had held the property for more than 40 years to a private local buyer.
Brokerage and Transaction Details
Eric Bell, executive managing director investments at Marcus & Millichap, and Jordan Callaway, an investment specialist in the firm's Chicago Oak Brook office, held the exclusive listing on behalf of the seller and also procured the buyer.
"Opportunities to acquire a property like Lotus Gardens are rare, as assets in this submarket are often held for decades due to the area's enduring appeal," Bell said. "After more than 40 years of ownership by the same seller, the property's strong location and solid fundamentals attracted significant interest."
The new owner plans to continue modernizing and enhancing the asset, which is described as already well-maintained, pointing to an incremental value-add strategy rather than a heavy repositioning effort.
Property Overview
Lotus Gardens sits on 2.54 acres and comprises 97,920 square feet across a three-story, elevator-served building constructed in 1971. The unit mix consists of 80 one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments and 40 two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments, producing an implied average unit size of approximately 816 square feet. One-bedroom floor plans measure roughly 730 square feet, while two-bedroom units range from 970 to 1,000 square feet.
The property offers approximately 120 off-street parking spaces and five covered parking spaces, an outdoor swimming pool, on-site coin-operated laundry facilities, and one dedicated storage space per unit. Asking rents at the community range from approximately $1,650 per month for one-bedroom units to roughly $1,900 to $1,950 per month for two-bedroom units.
The site is positioned about 12 miles east of O'Hare International Airport and benefits from proximity to the CTA Yellow Line and Westfield Old Orchard regional mall.
Skokie Submarket Context
Skokie and the broader North Shore submarket are characterized by limited developable land, which constrains new supply and supports steady occupancy levels. Strong school districts and household incomes in the area underpin consistent demand for mid-scale, well-maintained rental housing. Those dynamics help explain why many assets in the submarket trade infrequently — a point Bell noted directly in describing the rarity of the opportunity.
The transaction fits a pattern of investor interest in supply-constrained, transit-served suburban submarkets around Chicago, where value-add opportunities in 1970s-vintage elevator buildings have drawn attention as financing and pricing expectations have begun to re-align in 2026. Chicago-area multifamily has posted stable vacancies and moderating but positive rent growth, with metro-wide average asking rents near $1,900 per unit as of early 2026 — a level broadly consistent with Lotus Gardens' current asking rents.
About Marcus & Millichap
Marcus & Millichap (NYSE: MMI) is a commercial real estate brokerage firm specializing in investment sales, financing, research and advisory services with offices throughout the United States and Canada. As of Dec. 31, 2025, the company had 1,808 investment sales and financing professionals in more than 80 offices. The firm closed 8,818 transactions in 2025, with a total sales volume of approximately $50.9 billion.
Sources
Marcus & Millichap Press Release — Lotus Gardens, Skokie, Illinois (Sept. 2, 2026)