Meet Our Team
Forrest D. Bailey
President and Chief Executive Officer
Forrest D. Bailey serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of Draper and Kramer, Incorporated, and its parent company, DKH, Incorporated. Forrest has over thirty years’ experience in numerous facets of commercial and residential real estate including finance, development, asset management, management and leasing, acquisitions, dispositions, brokerage and condominium conversions. He is responsible for all of the operations of the firm and its subsidiaries.
Forrest joined Draper and Kramer in 1978 in project management as a Construction Loan Administrator. In 1982, he transitioned to a Property Manager within the Residential Management Department. From 1983 through 1989, he served as a Mortgage Banker specializing in the financing of major office, residential, retail, and industrial developments within the Midwest. From 1989 to 1995, Forrest was responsible for overseeing the asset management function of the company’s portfolio of 7,500 residential units, and more than 2 million square feet of office, retail and industrial developments.
In 1995, Forrest was named Chief Financial Officer responsible for financial reporting, corporate finance and project financing for sponsored properties. By 1998, he was named President and CEO of the company. He has been a member of the firm’s Board of Directors since 1989.
Forrest received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in business administration from the University of Chicago in 1980 and 1982, respectively. He is a member of the following organizations: the Housing Committee of the Metropolitan Planning Council, N.A.I.O.P, the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Vistage International, and has served on the Adler Planetarium Corporate Partners Advisory Committee, the FNMA Illinois Partnership Office Advisory Council, and the College Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago. He is a licensed real estate broker in the State of Illinois and holds the CPA designation.
Todd Bancroft
Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President and General Counsel
Todd Bancroft serves as Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Draper and Kramer, Incorporated, and its parent company, DKH, Incorporated. He is responsible for optimization of various operations in different departments of the company. In addition, Todd is responsible for strategy and direction of all aspects of the Company’s operational policies, objectives, initiatives, and legal matters.
Todd started his career with Equity Marking Services, Inc. as Executive Vice President with a focus on condominium sales, marketing, and conversions.
Todd founded Bancroft, Richman & Goldberg (formerly Bancroft & Richman LLC) in 2010, with services focused in the areas of real estate and commercial transactions, including representation of Condominium and Homeowner Associations, residential and commercial property acquisition and disposition, construction and permanent lending, developer representation, and representation of lenders and finance companies.
In 2012, he joined Draper and Kramer as Chief Administrative Officer, Senior Vice President, and General Counsel responsible for its mortgage and cash management operations.
Mr. Bancroft graduated from University of Illinois College of Commerce in 1990, and received his bachelor’s degree in accountancy. In 1993, Mr. Bancroft graduated from University of Florida College of Law with a Juris Doctorate. He is a licensed Real Estate Managing Broker in the State of Illinois and licensed Real Estate Broker in the State of Michigan. He is also a member of the bar in both Illinois and Florida and the Senior Editorial Board for the Florida Law Review.
William T. Barry
Senior Vice President, Commercial Mortgage Production
Bill Barry joined Draper and Kramer, Incorporated in 1989 and currently heads the Commercial Finance Group. Bill has over 30 years of experience in financing all types of commercial real estate. Prior to joining Draper and Kramer, he was Vice President of Finance at Lincoln Property Company in Chicago. Bill has financed over $25 billion in real estate during his career.
Bill graduated from the University of Illinois with highest honors, receiving a BS degree in Accounting. He was awarded a Bronze Tablet for graduating in the top three percent of his class. He has been and is involved in many charities including: Wood Family Foundation, All Stars Project of Chicago, Alzheimer’s Association, Link Unlimited, and March of Dimes. He is currently on the Board of Trustees of the Gamma Zeta Chapter of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity.
James Hayes
Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President
James Hayes serves as Chief Financial Officer of Draper and Kramer, Incorporated, and its parent company, DKH, Incorporated. He is responsible for financial reporting, corporate finance and project financing for sponsored properties. Mr. Hayes is accountable for managing liquidity and the company’s banking relationships including the restructuring of the corporate facilities as well as the mortgage company’s warehouse lines.
James started his career with Arthur Anderson’s audit practice with a focus on manufacturing and financial services clients.
In 1996, James joined Prism Mortgage Company as its controller and treasurer. After acquiring seven privately held mortgage companies, Prism Mortgage Company was one of the top 25 mortgage originators in the US and executed an Initial Public Offering in 1999. In 2000, Prism Mortgage Company was acquired by Royal Bank of Canada, where James worked with Royal Bank of Canada’s US based mergers and acquisitions team from 2001 to 2003.
In 2003, James joined Baytree National Bank & Trust as senior vice president responsible for its mortgage and its cash management operations.
James graduated from Northern Illinois University, and received his bachelor’s degree in accounting. In 2010, he graduated from University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business with a Masters of Business Administration.
Anthony F. Kramer
Executive Vice President
Anthony Kramer is Executive Vice President and Director of Draper and Kramer, Incorporated. Additionally, he oversees the property management partnership in Santiago, Chile, Draper and Kramer Condominios, where with our Chilean partner manages more than thirty communities in the Santiago area.
Anthony has been with the company over the past five decades, which he joined after serving as a line officer in the United States Navy. In the summer of 1967, he entered Officer’s Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island and was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy Reserve in October 1964. He spent the next two years as Damage Control Assistant on the USS Burton Island and the final year of active duty in various positions in the Ninth Naval District.
In the fall of 1967, Mr. Kramer commenced working full time for Draper and Kramer. He has spent time in both Residential and Commercial Management, as well as in Mortgage Production.
Tony holds his bachelor’s degree from Colby College, Waterville, Maine, and received his master’s degree in city planning from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a licensed Real Estate Managing Broker in the State of Illinois.
Paul Leuken
Paul Lueken has spent his entire working career in financial services. Paul began at a regional public accounting firm, leading various audit teams responsible for financial institutions, mortgage banks, savings and loans, and credit unions.
In 1990, he entered the mortgage industry, joining one of the ten largest mortgage banks in the United States. Paul worked in all aspects of wholesale operations: internal audit, correspondent lending, loan purchasing, customer service, and eventually managing wholesale operations. In 1997, he decided to use his extensive financial experience to its fullest, and left my position to establish 1st Advantage Mortgage. Over the last 8 years I have been assembling a team of individuals who shared my views on exceptional customer service along with diverse financial backgrounds, making 1st Advantage one of the top mortgage bankers in Illinois. We now have about 150 employees and have closing over 1.5 billion in loans last year.
In addition to being a CPA, Paul earned a B. S. in Accounting, with a minor in Economics, from Illinois State University and hold a Series 7 General Securities License and a Graduate Certificate from the Mortgage Banker's Association School of Mortgage Banking. In 2004, he was awarded the title of 'Mortgage Broker of the Year', by the Illinois Association of Mortgage Brokers.
Ed Polich
Chief Development Officer and Senior Vice President
Upon completion of studies in Architecture and Economics at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Ed Polich practiced architecture at the Chicago based architectural firm of Perkins and Will. After about four years of various roles at that firm (Design, then Management), he joined the Construction Services Department of Draper and Kramer in 1982.
Over the next decade, Ed participated in the creation and growth of the Development Services group and played a significant role in the creation of many Draper and Kramer assets. In the early 1990’s, he left our firm to (ultimately) become the Midwest Regional Operating Partner of the Linpro/LCOR Companies and develop the iconic Chicago Title and Trust Center in downtown Chicago. In addition to that $265 MM development, he developed commercial office, logistical, multi-family and senior housing assets in markets across the United States.
For the past 14 years, Ed’s own firm, Waveland Partners, in addition to opportunistic development activities, has provided advisory and consulting services to a number of high-net-worth individuals, their families and Institutional owners of real estate.
A native Chicagoan and North Side resident, Ed believes it is the responsibility of every citizen to commit to on-going involvement in the welfare and growth of communities throughout the metropolitan area. This belief is reflected in his long term commitment to non-profit community development activities in economically and socially challenged neighborhoods and in his role as a leader of a number of community organizations.
