Albany Park: Why this Chicago neighborhood should be on your multifamily investment radar

Albany Park is a northwest side neighborhood of Chicago and is located nine miles from downtown. With Foster Avenue to its north, the neighborhood spans from the Chicago River to the east, Montrose Avenue to the south and Elston Avenue to the west. Over the past few years, interest in multifamily properties has slowly been increasing. I think investors are sleeping on this neighborhood. Between access to public transportation, two universities and numerous parks, Albany Park is on the rise.

Easy Access To Public Transportation

Residents can easily commute from the CTA Brown Line Kimball, Kedzie and Francisco stops and the Blue Line Montrose stop. CTA bus routes servicing the area include #53 Pulaski, #78 Montrose, #80 Irving Park, #81 Lawrence, #82 Kimball/Homan, #92 Foster, and #93 California/Dodge. The Edens expressway, locally referred to as I-94, also borders the neighborhood to the west.

Built-In Student Renter Base

Numerous public and private educational institutions call Albany Park home. For higher education, Northeastern Illinois University’s 9,000 undergraduate students attend the main campus located in Albany Park. North Park University’s 33-acre Albany Park campus serves its 2,000 undergraduate students. Other notable schools in the neighborhood include the Von Stueben Metropolitan High School, a four-year magnet high school operated by Chicago Public Schools, and Roosevelt High School, a public high school. In general, families are the top renter profile in Albany Park followed by young professionals on the east side of the neighborhood and students near the universities.

Neighborhood Amenities

The northern border of Albany Park includes Gompers Park and Eugene Field Park, where residents can exercise, play sports or take in the outdoors. The 42.17-acre Gompers Park offers an outdoor pool, playground, three junior baseball fields, a football field, basketball court, five tennis courts, roller hockey-skating and a lagoon. The 18.94-acre Eugene Field Park offers athletic programs, two baseball fields, a basketball court, four tennis courts and a playground.

In Albany Park, rents typically range between $800 and $1,000 for a vintage two-bedroom apartment and between $1,200 and $1,500 for a renovated two-bedroom apartment. As bordering neighborhoods Ravenswood, Irving Park and Lincoln Square continue to see increased renter interest and development, Albany Park will be the next market to heat up in this area of the city. For this reason, buyers are starting to pay high prices for vintage buildings with plans to add value through renovations, with recent sales fetching upwards of $130,000 per unit for a building in non-updated condition.