Draper and Kramer, Incorporated has closed a $93.5 million refinance loan for The Elizabeth, a 28-story multifamily tower at 225 N. Elizabeth St. in Chicago's Fulton Market, on behalf of Sterling Bay and Ascentris. The transaction matters because it shows that non-agency lenders remain willing to finance relatively new Class A multifamily assets in prime Chicago submarkets, even as broader commercial real estate conditions remain uneven. Bill Barry, a senior vice president with the firm's Commercial Finance Group, framed the deal as evidence of both local market strength and lender appetite: limited new inventory continues to drive rents at existing properties, while non-agency lenders are actively pursuing high-quality multifamily deals.
The property itself was completed in 2024 and includes 350 rental apartments plus 10,000 square feet of street-level retail space. The refinance was arranged by a Draper and Kramer team led by Barry and Bill Stewart, both senior vice presidents. Stewart noted that the clients were looking to swap out their current rate, positioning the transaction as a refinance rather than an acquisition or construction loan. The deal is one of several the Commercial Finance Group has closed in Fulton Market during 2026, and it follows more than $215 million in additional Class A multifamily deals arranged by Barry and Stewart in the same submarket earlier in the year.
The sole source for this event is a Yield PRO article published on September 8, 2026, which draws on an announcement from Draper and Kramer. The article quotes both Barry and Stewart directly and provides specific figures: the $93.5 million refinance for The Elizabeth, a separate $101.8 million construction loan for 410 N. Elizabeth St. arranged this summer, and the $215 million in earlier Class A multifamily deals. The source also identifies 410 N. Elizabeth St. as Chicago's first geothermal, all-electric multifamily high-rise, being developed by Tree Street Group, Magellan Development Group, and Mark Goodman & Associates. Because the dossier contains only this single full-text source, the analysis must remain close to the announcement and cannot independently verify the figures or the characterizations of market conditions.
The broader implication is that Fulton Market is functioning as a high-velocity pocket within Chicago's multifamily financing landscape. Stewart described the submarket as illustrating how the financing landscape is easing for the right opportunities in prime locations, extending to both refinance situations and construction financing for new projects where multifamily demand is growing. The presence of multiple large transactions in a single submarket within one year suggests concentrated lender interest, though the evidence does not establish whether this reflects a durable trend or a short-term cluster of deals. Draper and Kramer's Commercial Finance Group, which has longstanding partnerships with more than 25 life insurance companies, appears to be leveraging those relationships to source favorable terms for clients.
Several limitations apply. The dossier does not include the interest rate, loan-to-value ratio, term length, or identity of the lender for The Elizabeth refinance. It also does not provide rent levels, occupancy, or other property-level performance data that would substantiate the claim that limited inventory is driving rents. The source is a secondary trade publication reporting on a company announcement, and no independent confirmation or third-party commentary is available. What to watch next is whether additional refinance and construction loans close in Fulton Market at comparable scale, and whether the easing conditions described by Stewart extend beyond prime submarkets to other parts of Chicago or other property types.