Amli Residential Purchases $134M Chicago West Loop Tower Amid Active Multifamily Market

Amli Residential, a prominent multifamily landlord based in Chicago, has acquired the 275-unit Milieu tower in the city’s West Loop for over $134 million. This transaction stands as one of the largest downtown purchases in what has been an active year for multifamily property sales in Chicago. The seller, Pacific Life Insurance, developed the tower in partnership with White Oak Realty Partners and Crayton Advisors, completing it in 2019. The Milieu property offers 19 stories of residential units, including 215 parking spaces and amenities such as a rooftop pool and deck. At the time of sale, the building maintained a high occupancy rate around 96%, with new leases reflecting year-to-date rent increases of approximately 5%. This deal contributes to the robust multifamily market activity in Chicago, which has seen over $4.5 billion invested so far in 2025. This investment landscape is fueled by Chicago’s sustained rent growth, which continues to outpace many other major U.S. cities and counters the effects of reduced multifamily construction in recent years. Earlier in 2025, Chicago witnessed several significant multifamily transactions, including a $175 million purchase of the 398-unit North Water Apartments and the $170 million sale of the 375-unit Fulbrix tower. Amli Residential has a longstanding presence in the market, founded in 1980 and currently operating as a subsidiary of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing. The firm manages more than 25,000 residential units across eight U.S. cities. The acquisition of Milieu further expands Amli’s portfolio in one of its key markets, highlighting ongoing investor confidence in Chicago’s multifamily sector. For financial perspective, Pacific Life’s development and ownership of the Milieu tower included an $86 million loan secured in 2021, evidencing strategic capital management around this asset. The transaction was facilitated by JLL brokers, who have been active in marketing and selling high-value multifamily properties locally. This recent acquisition and the overall transactional volume underscore an important trend of sustained demand and capital flow into Chicago’s multifamily residential real estate sector, driven by favorable rental economics and constrained supply dynamics.