The apartment complexes include Buena Terrace, Oakdale Terrace, Sheridan Glen, Barry Court, Wolcott Terrace and the Covington, and are all within 10 miles from each other on the north side of Chicago. The properties, while older, are of a quality needed for today's financing transaction, says Alliant SVP Aaron Abelson. "Now, with the credit market the way it is, the quality of the asset and the borrower is critically important."

He says he thinks Chicago has weathered the credit crunch better than some cities, but that occupancy and rental rates are still challenged. "There's some absorption issues that we have to work through. Chicago had a fair share of condo inventory out there, and though there's not any projects coming online in the past several years, you're still getting competition from the shadow condo market," Abelson tells GlobeSt.com. A Horizon official could not be reached for comment.

Abelson also recently closed another $15 million in refinancing for three other multifamily deals, including 23 units at 4840 S. Indiana Street in Chicago for Mickelson Brothers III LLC and two others, the 292-unit Lynndale Apartments and 56-unit Fox Shore Apartments, in the Appleton submarket of Wisconsin for a private investor. "Currently what has been the saving grace of multifamily has been agencies such as Fannie and Freddie, agencies are the only ones out there providing liquidity to the market. We are starting to see some other players starting to dip their toes back into the market, we've heard some noise regarding CMBS executions. Those players will also provide liquidity, but those deals will have to be more conservatively structured than in the past, the deals will have to make sense to get done," Abelson says.