The Vanbarton Group sold Streeterville’s historic The Seneca, a 267-unit apartment building at 200 E. Chestnut St., for $55 million, according to Cook County property records.

       That’s a big markdown for the New York-based investor, which paid $74.8 million for the 16-story tower in 2014, but taking such hits is not unusual these days. Even though Chicago’s downtown apartment sector is healthy in many ways, with high occupancy, a busy construction schedule and rising rents, higher interest rates have made apartment buyers wary.

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       “The market’s fundamentals are incredibly strong,” said Ron DeVries, senior managing director of Integra Realty Resources. “We’re seeing occupancy rates that are very high, and absorption of new product is going strong, but people just can’t pay what they paid a few years ago because the cost of debt is so high.”