Draper & Kramer Buys Eleven33 Apartment Complex

Draper & Kramer is beefing up its suburban Chicago footprint with the acquisition of Eleven33, a 263-unit luxury apartment building in Oak Park.

The 12-story complex, which garnered more than $88 million in the transaction, was completed in 2019 and sits steps from both the CTA Green Line and Metra’s UP-West Line at 1133 South Boulevard.

The deal gives the buyer, a century-old local firm, another stabilized, transit-rich asset as Class A rental demand keeps outpacing supply in inner-ring suburbs, according to a news release from Draper & Kramer.

Newmark represented the sellers in the transaction, Willow Bridge Property and AEW; Draper & Kramer didn’t use a broker.

The sale looks to be a win for Willow Bridge and AEW. Willow constructed the property on two former Oak Park village parking lots and later secured a $53 million loan to refinance the building from a MetLife Real Estate Lending venture in late 2023, according to Cook County property records.

Draper said in the release that it will also take over management of the property, which is 95 percent leased and has averaged roughly 94 percent occupancy this year. The deal marks a hometown play for Draper & Kramer, whose holdings stretch across major Sun Belt metros but remain anchored in Chicago. Blas Puzon, chief investment officer for the firm, said that the Oak Park apartment complex purchase amounted to a “special opportunity to invest in our own backyard.”

Eleven33 sits within walking distance of Oak Park’s Lake Street retail corridor, the Pleasant District and parks, the public library and the Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District — a package that has turned the village into one of metro Chicago’s most durable renter magnets. Current rents start at $1,945 for studios and scale up to three-bedrooms spanning as large as 1,500 square feet.

Units come with 9- and 10-foot ceilings, oversized windows, plank flooring, in-unit laundry and contemporary kitchens with quartz countertops and two-tone cabinetry. Some apartments add balconies or terraces. Amenities are in line with the product level: a 24-hour fitness center with yoga studios, clubroom and entertainment lounge, conference rooms, indoor bike storage, a fifth-floor sun deck with fire pits and grills, and a pet suite that includes an indoor dog run. There’s also a 252-space controlled-access garage for residents and 148 public spaces.

Management of the building folds neatly into an existing Chicago-area platform for Draper & Kramer that now spans more than 5,500 multifamily units across six states. Puzon said the firm is keeping most of Eleven33’s on-site staff.