The Belden-Stratford located at 2300 Lincoln Park West, was purchased by the Laramar Group, who expect to finalize the sale by December.

The Laramar Group, a Chicago-based investment firm, has made plans to purchase the historic Belden-Stratford building in Lincoln Park from an affiliate of IRMCO Properties & Management Corp.

The 16-story, 297-unit complex was purchased for an undisclosed price, but sources say Laramar is paying slightly less than $60 million for the property, according to Chicago Real Estate Daily (CRED).

The Belden-Stratford was built in 1923; a pre-Depression era residential hotel, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Currently, 75 percent of the building’s units are rental apartments, and the remaining 25 percent are used as hotel rooms, reported in the CRED article, “Historic Belden-Stratford to sell for almost $60 million” by Alby Gallun.

“It’s a well-known landmark in Chicago,” says CEO of Newcastle Ltd., Michael Haney. “From a marketing perspective, that can always be an advantage.”

Newcastle, also a Chicago-based investment firm, had placed a bid on the Belden-Stratford.

Laramar could potentially raise the property’s value by renovating the building and converting the hotel units into rentals units.

The Belden-Stratford is “a vintage building in a great location that has some renovation potential,” says Mark Stern, senior vice-president of Waterton Associates LLC. “We thought that a new owner could come in and modernize the units and get a rent premium.” Waterton, also a Chicago-based investment firm, had put a bid on Belden-Stratford property as well.

Located at 2300 Lincoln Park West, the sale of the Belden-Stratford to the Laramar Group is expected to close in December.