Oak Street Real Estate Capital was founded in 2009 by Marc Zahr and Jim Hennessey, both formerly part of American Realty Capital's acquisitions and asset management teams. The firm set out to build a triple-net lease focused private equity real estate platform with the goal of providing flexible capital solutions to corporations, healthcare systems, universities, and government entities. Operating as a minority and women-owned business enterprise, Oak Street built a specialized platform centered on acquiring properties under long-term net-lease agreements with investment-grade and creditworthy tenants. The firm's investment approach emphasizes sale-leaseback transactions and build-to-suit developments. Sale-leasebacks allow corporations to optimize their balance sheets by selling real estate assets and leasing them back, delivering immediate liquidity, tax benefits, and operational flexibility. Oak Street structures triple-net leases where tenants are responsible for property taxes, insurance, and maintenance expenses, creating predictable monthly cash flows for investors. The firm targets single-tenant properties with long-duration leases, typically 15 years or more with built-in rent escalations, providing income stability. In December 2021, Blue Owl Capital (NYSE: OWL) acquired Oak Street for $950 million in a transaction valued at up to $1.6 billion including earnouts. Oak Street now operates as Blue Owl's real estate division, with Marc Zahr serving as Head of Real Estate at Blue Owl and joining the company's Board of Directors and Executive Committee. The platform manages both commingled funds and separate accounts for institutional and high-net-worth investors, including public and corporate pension plans, insurance companies, family offices, and trusts. Following the Blue Owl acquisition, Oak Street partnered with GIC, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, to complete the $15 billion acquisition of STORE Capital Corporation in February 2023, one of the largest M&A transactions in the U.S. real estate market. Oak Street continues to expand its platform across the United States under Blue Owl's ownership.