Vistria, Standard and DRA Advisors Buy Big Aurora Complexes

The multifamily market in the western Chicago suburb of Aurora has been busy this month, with two sales fetching a combined $181 million and 788 units moving to big landlords.

A joint venture of Chicago-based Vistria Group and Los Angeles-based Standard Real Estate Investments bought the 420-unit Fox Valley Villages Apartments for $93 million. The deal came out to about $221,000 per unit for the property at 710 South Eola Road.

Separately, DRA Advisors this month bought the 368-unit Aurora at Summerfield Apartments for $88 million. The sale of the complex located at 1847 Clubhouse Drive came out to about $239,000 per unit. The seller to DRA was New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald, which was formerly helmed by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick until he joined the second Trump administration. Cantor had owned the property since 2019, when the firm bought it for $77 million with a $50 million loan from Berkeley Point Capital.

Together, the deals keep the swift momentum of Chicago region’s multifamily market rolling as recent new development deliveries suppress rent growth in Sun Belt markets while the relative lack of new supply in the Midwest has benefited owners of existing properties.

The suburban submarket benefits from Chicago’s strong job base without the hassles of Cook County’s complicated property tax system. The Chicago suburbs have consistently risen the ranks of the county’s most competitive rental markets, alongside cities like Miami, according to data compiled by companies like RentCafe.

DRA Advisors, which is based in New York, has previously made headlines for selling off most of its $540 million Midwest retail portfolio that was concentrated in the Chicago area. Now, the firm now appears ready to grow its multifamily holdings in the region.

With the purchase of the Fox Valley Villages, Standard and Vistria now jointly own 836 units in the Aurora/Naperville submarket. Last year, they bought the 416-unit Haven on Long Grove apartments and townhomes in Aurora for $94 million, including a $46 million Fannie Mae loan assumption.

“The Aurora/Naperville submarket is among the strongest in the Chicago MSA with a high barrier to entry,” Jerome Nichols, president and co-founder of Standard, said in a statement.

The prior owner of Standard’s latest acquisition, Utah-based Bridge Investment Group which was absorbed by Apollo Global Management earlier this year, purchased the property for $72 million with a $54 million mortgage from Wells Fargo in 2021.

The sprawling complex is made up of 18, three-story buildings across 21 acres. It includes 208 one-bedroom units and 212 two-bedroom units with an overall occupancy rate of 97 percent. Standard and Vistria plan to invest over $8 million on renovations, they said in a statement.

DRA, Bridge and Cantor didn’t return requests for comment.