Chicago’s Draper and Kramer, Incorporated announced that Edward Polich, executive vice president of real estate and a 43-year industry veteran, will retire at the end of 2025.
Polich spent nearly two decades of his career with Draper and Kramer, including the last 11 years during which he served as chief development officer from 2014 to 2019 before being promoted to his current role. He was also a vice president with Draper and Kramer for almost nine years during the 1980s.
In his most recent tenure with Draper and Kramer, Polich had a significant role in formulating and adopting a new strategic plan that moved the firm to an open-ended fund model that streamlined its investment approach and allowed more flexibility to respond to market conditions and opportunities. As executive vice president of real estate, he also chaired the firm’s investment committee, leading the evaluation of potential transactions to ensure alignment with the company’s strategic direction. Notable multifamily investments under Polich’s guidance included deals that expanded Draper and Kramer’s portfolio into additional target regions, including metro markets in Arizona, Colorado and Texas.
As chief development officer, Polich led multiple Draper and Kramer new-construction multifamily projects including 61 Banks Street, Aspire Residences and Wrigleyville Lofts in Chicago; Moda at The Hill, a major neighborhood redevelopment in St. Louis; and Tempo Nine Mile Station in Aurora, Colo.
Polich first entered the commercial real estate industry in 1982 as a board-elected vice president with Draper and Kramer, acting as development manager on a wide range of product types on behalf of a number of ownership entities and in both urban and suburban locations across the U.S.
Over the course of his career, Polich also held senior executive positions with national real estate developer LCOR Incorporated, participating in the development of commercial office, senior housing and multifamily residential projects in the Midwest.
Polich also co-founded Waveland Partners LLC, a real estate asset creation and management firm specializing in asset management services for family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
Polich, who began his career as an architect with Perkins + Will, holds a degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). While completing his architectural studies, Polich was also a member of the IIT Stuart School of Business MBA program.
Earlier this year, Polich was awarded a position as a visiting scholar at the American Academy in Rome, where he has been furthering his life-long interest in ancient studies.
A native Chicagoan and North Side resident, Polich has been a member of many local community organizations. Among his philanthropic activities, he serves on the boards of directors of Claretian Associates, Lambda Alpha International Chicago, the Near South Planning Board and IIT’s College of Architecture Board of Advisors, and is also chairman of the Mies van der Rohe Society.
