Evan Oliff

Experienced real estate developer Evan Oliff has earned a reputation for success in commercial property development. Currently the President and founder of Chicago-based Preferred Development, Inc., he develops and manages numerous retail and mixed-use properties. Evan Oliff routinely spearheads both ground-up and redevelopment projects in addition to brokering deals, including the $8.6 million sale of a nearly 50,000-square-foot GSA property in Philadelphia. This mission-critical GSA building was a new build to suit the Drug Enforcement Agency. In total, Oliff has brokered more than $300 million in property sales, from grocery-store-anchored shopping centers to multi-use properties.

Evan Oliff's extensive experience includes entrepreneurship; he founded his first company as an undergraduate at the Henry B. Tippie College of Business at The University of Iowa, where he majored in Finance and Operations Management. While pursuing his degree, Oliff founded a sports management company that promoted Gatorade at athletic events throughout the Midwest. This was the first such company that the Quaker Oats Company hired after the acquisition of this prominent sports drink from Stokely-Van Camp.

After receiving his Bachelor's degree, Evan Oliff earned his Master of Business Administration from Loyola University Chicago, where he continued to focus on Finance. He first established himself in real estate at Fuller Commercial Real Estate (now Royal Le Page) and Benjamin E. Sherman & Sons, Inc., holding his first executive position at the latter, where he served as the Vice President of Investment Sales. In 1992, he left this position to create of the Prairie Village Retirement Community, a 2-million-square-foot senior living facility and rental housing community which was located adjacent to a 18-hole golf course located on the site of the decommissioned Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois' Champaign County.

Evan Oliff balances his professional duties with regular volunteer efforts, serving, among others, Homes of Hope, which provides affordable housing for individuals or families without a home. As a volunteer, he has led a number of three-day trips for high school students to build homes and distribute donations. He also participates annually in RAGBRAI, a 500-mile week-long bicycle event to benefit the Chicago Urban Bicycling Society.