The Marke · Elmhurst · 164 units · UP-West Metra Former bank and office building. Active leases. Contested zoning. Still the closest multifamily project to the station. Elmhurst's first transit-oriented development.

Authentic walkable downtowns.
Built out. In demand. Ready for redevelopment. All unique.

LaBounty Real Estate sources and brokers multifamily and mixed-use sites in Chicago's Metra-connected suburban downtowns — walkable communities with constrained supply and the fundamentals to support new development and investment.

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30Years Commercial Real Estate
ChicagolandCook · DuPage · Kane · Kendall · Lake · McHenry · Will
TODInfill · Mixed-Use

Most of the best deals never get listed.
That's the point.

Our Investment Thesis

Railroad expansion built
the framework for
these communities.
We understand them.

Character outlasts every master plan. Authenticity is the asset.

Chicago's Metra-connected suburban trainline downtowns are rare: genuine, multi-generational community fabric. Walkable main streets. Family-owned blocks held for decades. A civic identity and history you can't manufacture with a consultant and a vision document.

These communities were built before the car defined everything — pre-automobile street grids, connected downtowns, the kind of density that supports real neighborhood life. No two are alike. Each has its own character, its own pace of change, its own relationship between the station and the street. What they share is proof: communities across the Metra corridor have demonstrated that adding density and activity to their downtowns is a viable path to lasting strength and value. The policy environment is catching up — zoning reform, parking minimums eliminated, state-level support for transit-oriented development.

LaBounty Real Estate was built on one conviction: these communities were built right the first time. Pre-automobile street grids. Walkable downtowns. Train stations at the center. They've been here for over a century. The way people want to live today is catching up to what these communities offer. Walk to the train. Walk to dinner. It's reemerging. Unlocking it requires someone embedded in these communities, not parachuting in. I know the owners, the municipal priorities, and the development economics because this is my singular focus.

Track Record

Deals that require someone
who knows the ground

I

Site Origination · Seller Representation · TOD · Multifamily

The Marke — Elmhurst's First True TOD

Originated and represented the seller on Elmhurst's first transit-oriented multifamily project — 164 units a few hundred feet from the Union Pacific West Metra station. The deal required terminating multiple tenants on a site, navigating a municipality with no TOD precedent, and positioning the project against an entrenched parking-first and height resistant planning culture and zoning code. The Marke quickly reached full occupancy and became the proof of concept that reshaped how Elmhurst approaches downtown development.

The Marke — Elmhurst TOD
II

Site Origination · Institutional · No-Parking

Medical Office Building — Walkable Suburban Downtown

Listed and brokered land in a suburban downtown steps from the Metra station that hadn't traded in 90+ years. Sold to a developer with a vision and connections to attract a major medical system to build a three-story $27 million clinic with no on-site parking.

Anchor tenant lease pending execution
III

Off-Market Origination · Developer Representation · TOD

63-Unit Multifamily — Downers Grove TOD Site

Sourced and closed an off-market 0.5-acre infill site two blocks from the Downers Grove Metra station for one of Chicago's most active multifamily developers. The project will deliver 63 units in one of the BNSF corridor's strongest downtown markets — dense, walkable, and undersupplied. The site was never listed.

63-Unit Multifamily rendering — Downers Grove TOD Site
IV

Owner Advisory · Multi-Party Disposition · Municipal Buyer

Downtown TOD Parcel — Municipal Acquisition

Listed and brokered a 0.5-acre TOD site in a western suburb with seven family members as co-owners — navigating a complex multi-party disposition to sell the land to the municipality for downtown redevelopment. The deal required patience, trust, and the ability to align seven sets of interests around a single outcome. The site will be positioned for redevelopment upon lease expiration.

V

Off-Market Origination · Multiple Seller Representation · Transit-Adjacent

Performing Arts Center Site — Five Parcels, One Vision

Represented sellers in the off-market acquisition of five parcels totaling 0.8 acres directly across from a Metra station — assembled for a performing arts center with mixed-use potential. Achieved record land pricing on both transactions.

Five parcel assemblage — Performing Arts Center site, transit-adjacent
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What We Do

Five capabilities.
One practice.

Whether you're bringing capital, selling a legacy asset, or trying to move a community forward — we've done it, and we know how these deals actually get done.

01

Site Origination & Assemblage

Identifying off-market parcels and multi-owner assemblage opportunities in trainline communities. Long-cycle relationship work with families and estates who don't respond to cold calls.

02

Developer Representation

Connecting developers with sites, owners, and municipal stakeholders. Sourcing TOD, BTR, mixed-use, and infill opportunities across the Chicagoland corridor before they reach the open market.

03

Owner & Disposition Advisory

Guiding long-term property owners — families, estates, operating businesses — through the process of valuing, positioning, and selling assets they've held for generations.

04

Corporate Relocation

Site selection and tenant representation for companies relocating to walkable trainline downtowns. The talent lives along the corridor — the office should too.

05

Municipal & TIF Intelligence

Deep familiarity with suburban TIF districts, redevelopment agreements, and incentive structures. Translating municipal priorities into deal structure that works for both sides.

Three ways to work together

01

Developers & Investors

Buy-side representation for developers and capital partners seeking multifamily, mixed-use, and build-to-rent opportunities. Our off-market pipeline comes from years of relationship cultivation — we bring you deals before they're listed, with deep local context to underwrite confidently.

Let's talk deals →
02

Property Owners

For families considering selling a generational asset, we offer patient, trust-based counsel. With 25 years of buyer relationships and a strong development network, we consistently deliver qualified buyers who will steward your property well — and maximize your value in the process.

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03

Municipalities

Master plans don't move the needle — transactions do. As an independent broker with genuine local credibility, we can bring deals to the table that outside consultants can't. We've helped transform Elmhurst. We can do the same for your community.

Work with us →
Start a Conversation →

The Corridor

11 lines.
One thesis.

Includes 11 Metra lines + South Shore Line (NICTD)

243 stations across Chicagoland's most walkable, transit-oriented communities. Hover any line to explore.

—
Aurora Joliet Fox Lake Elgin Univ. Park McHenry McHenry Manhattan Kenosha Harvard Elburn South Bend Ogilvie · Union Sta. Millennium · LaSalle St.
Metra Lines
Tap a line to explore
BNSF Line
Heritage Corridor
Milwaukee District North
Milwaukee District West
Metra Electric District
North Central Service
Rock Island District
SouthWest Service
Union Pacific North
Union Pacific Northwest
Union Pacific West
South Shore Line (NICTD)
11Rail Lines
243Stations
6Counties
500+Sq Miles

About the Principal

He lives here.
He works here.
That's the difference.

These aren't generic suburban markets. They're communities with identity — places people choose, not just settle for.

30 Years in Chicago-area
real estate
IL Licensed Managing Broker,
State of Illinois
EDC Chairman,
Elmhurst Economic Development Commission
Off-market origination · Multifamily, mixed-use & infill redevelopment · Land & building acquisition, disposition & advisory

My career started at a shopping center developer — underwriting deals, modeling tenant demand, learning how projects actually get financed and built. Retail real estate was built around the car and the highway. I understood that world. Then I started paying closer attention to the communities I'd been living in and driving through — the ones that predate all of it.

Walkable downtowns. Metra stations at the center. Blocks of family-owned buildings that haven't traded in decades. These places have something that can't be manufactured: genuine community fabric, built before anyone needed to plan for it. A decade ago, I started to see that the way people want to live — walkable, connected, locally rooted — had caught up to what these communities already were. Not a trend. A return.

The work is specific. Long-cycle. It requires being embedded here, not parachuting in. I know the owners, the municipal priorities, and the development economics because this is my singular focus — and has been for over a decade.

Chris LaBounty
Managing Broker · LaBounty Real Estate LLC

Contact

The best conversations
start before anyone is ready.

If you're a developer sourcing multifamily or mixed-use sites, an owner evaluating timing on a generational asset, or a municipality trying to move a deal forward — reach out.

Phone 630.263.2603
Email chris@labountyre.com
LinkedIn chris-labounty