DRA Advisors Sells Chicago Value-Add Shopping Center

First Tek has purchased Oak Forest Commons, a 115,754-square-foot value-add shopping center in Oak Forest, Ill. DRA Advisors sold the asset with the assistance of Mid-America Real Estate Corp.

Oak Forest Commons’s tenant roster includes a diverse mix of national retailers such as Great Clips, Dotty’s, Anytime Fitness, Forever Grace, Munchy Flames and Drippy Smoke. Pine Tree was the asset’s property manager at the time of its sale.

Located at the corner of 159th Street and Central Avenue, Oak Forest Commons serves more than 81,000 individuals within a 3-mile radius, with an average household income of approximately $94,000, according to Mid-America. The firm’s Principals Rick Drogosz, Ben Wineman and Joe Girardi represented DRA Advisors.

A long history of Chicago retail transactions

In fact, Oak Forest Commons was not the first retail asset acquired by First Tek from DRA Advisors. At the end of last year, the firm purchased a 172,697-square-foot retail center in Darien, Ill., in a transaction arranged by the same Mid-America brokers.

On the other hand, DRA has sold several Chicago-area assets in recent months. One of them was Orland Park Place, a 649,668-square-foot open-air regional center in Orland Park, Ill., that changed hands for $74.6 million. Once again, Mid-America brokered the deal on behalf of the seller.

According to a recent Lee & Associates report, one of the metro’s largest sale transactions by square foot in the fourth quarter of last year also involved a DRA Advisors property. In November, PMAT acquired the 317,006-square-foot shopping center in Crystal Lake, Ill., for $32.4 million or $102.2 per square foot.