DRA Advisors continued its Chicagoland buying spree this month with the purchase of a Plainfield apartment complex.
New York-based DRA bought the 340-unit The Enclave at 127th at 23760 West 127th Street from Oak Brook-based JVM Realty for $95 million, Will County public records show. The sale price comes out to about $279,000 per unit.
JVM had owned the property since 2015. The firm bought it for $62 million from the Wisconsin-based developer of the property, Continental Properties, which completed the project in 2013 with general contractor Horizon, which is also based in Wisconsin.
JVM had recently refinanced the property in 2025 with a $64 million loan from Prudential Life Insurance. Records show that DRA assumed the loan with the purchase of the property although it is unclear what the remaining balance was at the time of the purchase.
The complex is made up of over a dozen 20-unit townhome-style buildings.
Representatives of DRA Advisors and JVM Realty did not respond to requests for comment.
The transaction signals that the hot multifamily market in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs is showing no signs of slowing down.
Chicagoland has not seen the same fluctuations in multifamily values that the sun belt has seen since the pandemic. Instead, investors are now drawn to the area because of its steady rent growth driving up demand.
DRA has also been an active buyer in the greater Chicago area across both the multifamily and industrial sectors. The move marks a shift from DRA’s prior focus on retail and office properties.
In 2023, the company sold off most of its $540 million Midwest retail portfolio that was concentrated in the Chicago area.
And this year, DRA spent over $200 million on 32 industrial properties across Chicagoland, in a deal that closed in late February, state property tax records indicated.
A Nuveen affiliate also made a big bet on suburban Chicago apartments last year, paying $87.8 million for Uptown La Grange — the priciest rental property trade in the west suburb’s history.
Nuveen Real Estate’s U.S. Cities Multifamily bought the 254-unit complex at 31 East Ogden Avenue from JVM Realty. The sale price is slightly below the $89.4 million JVM paid in 2019.
On the development side, Continental Properties is continuing to cash in on the Chicagoland hype.
The Solomon Organization acquired the 292-unit Springs at Weber Road complex in Romeoville for $76 million from Continental Properties in March.
And last year, the same company bought Authentix McHenry, a 288-unit complex developed by Continental, for $55.3 million.
One ongoing development effort, however, recently hit a snag.
A pair of proposals totaling roughly $150 million would transform a 29-acre site in St. Charles into nearly 500 units of housing, split between the 306-unit apartment complex Springs at 38 West (from Continental Properties and BEI Properties) and the 167-unit senior living facility Traditions of St. Charles (from the Leo Brown Group).
City officials and developers are at odds because St. Charles’ inclusionary housing ordinance requires 10 percent of units be affordable to households earning 60 percent of area median income — a threshold neither developer has incorporated into current plans.
The developers contend that incorporating affordable units, such as a roughly $1,070 monthly studio, would create a “revenue gap” that undercuts returns for private equity investors. They argue that simply adding supply will ease pricing pressures.