advertisement

Developer: Former Motorola campus to become new 'destination' in Schaumburg

A hotel, offices, retail stores and housing are all being considered for the former Motorola Solutions campus in Schaumburg, an executive with Chicago-based UrbanStreet Group said Monday.

UrbanStreet, a real estate investment and development firm, last week acquired about 225 acres of the campus and will work with village officials to finalize a plan for its redevelopment in the next six months.

"The Motorola campus represents a unique opportunity for creative repositioning," said Bob Burk, UrbanStreet managing partner. "Given the scale of the property, its access to a variety of transportation options and its position within the greater Chicago region, we see opportunities to reinvent the campus so that it becomes a destination of choice."

On Friday, Motorola Solutions said it sold off the rest of its legendary campus, near Algonquin and Meacham roads, for an undisclosed amount. Motorola will keep about 1,600 workers in two existing buildings that now are being remodeled.

When the remodeling is finished by mid-2017, Motorola will have invested roughly $83 million on the project. The buildings will house mostly engineers, who work on software and hardware products that are used worldwide, said Motorola spokeswoman Tama McWhinney.

Motorola Solutions said last September it would sell the rest of its campus following the headquarters move to Chicago, years of layoffs and a local trend of downsizing suburban corporate campuses.

Several years ago, Motorola Solutions sold a portion of the campus to Zurich North America for a new headquarters that will open in September. Another 47-acre parcel was acquired May 6 by Oak Street Real Estate Capital, also for redevelopment.

Now, UrbanStreet Group will work with Chicago-based Trilogy Investments to redesign the rest of the campus, which had about 1.8 million square feet of office, warehouse and light industrial buildings.

"This is going to be a multiyear project," Burk said.

UrbanStreet is doing a similar project on 50 acres of a failed regional mall in Crestwood, Missouri, near St. Louis. "It's on a smaller scale, but with the same concept as the Motorola campus," Burk said.

Also, UrbanStreet has apartments under construction just west of the Motorola campus on Algonquin Road. But the apartments are a separate project and won't be linked with the Motorola campus project, he said.

"It's an exciting piece of land and we have a number of ideas for it as Motorola plans its own transition," Burk said.

End of era: Motorola Solutions HQ leaving Schaumburg after 50 years

Motorola, Schaumburg to start splitting up campus

Motorola Solutions sells rest of Schaumburg campus

  Interior construction on this two-story structure, Door 82, is taking place on the Motorola campus in Schaumburg, while the rest of the campus has been sold and might get a hotel, offices, retail and housing. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

History of Motorola’s Schaumburg campus

1964: Motorola acquires the 316-acre John Freise farm in Schaumburg for manufacturing and administrative facilities.

1966: Motorola begins building 674,000-square-foot facility to house the company’s communications division, supplying two-way radio systems and equipment.

1971: Motorola Communications Division’s administrative headquarters open in a 310,000-square-foot addition in Schaumburg.

1973: Motorola breaks ground for its new corporate world headquarters building on the Schaumburg campus. The facility includes a 12-story office building and a two-story annex to house computer services and a cafeteria.

1976: The new international headquarters building opens. Also Motorola’s Automotive Products Division moves headquarters to Schaumburg campus.

1982: Motorola completes 350,000-square-foot addition to Communications Division’s facility in Schaumburg.

1983: Motorola expands Schaumburg facility again to manufacture cellular radiotelephone systems and phones.

1986: Motorola Galvin Center for Continuing Education opens on Schaumburg campus with classrooms and an auditorium.

1991: Motorola opens Motorola Museum of Electronics and the Corporate Archives in an addition to the Galvin Center.

1992: Motorola completed a west wing addition to the Galvin Center that doubled the size of the facility.

2001-present: Motorola has laid off tens of thousands of workers and closed buildings on various campuses.

2011: Motorola Inc. split into two separate publicly traded companies. Motorola Solutions remained in Schaumburg. Motorola Mobility kept its headquarters in Libertyville for a while, but eventually was sold to Google, then Lenovo Group. It moved to Chicago and recently laid off 500, or 25 percent of its local workforce.

2013: Motorola Solutions sold part of its campus to Zurich North America, which is building its own North American headquarters there. Some property also was sold to the Illinois Tollway Authority.

2015: Private equity firm Silver Lake pumps in $1 billion and two managing directors join Motorola Solutions’ board of directors.

Motorola Solutions announces move of global headquarters to Chicago along with 800 workers. An additional 200 workers in manufacturing are expected to move to Elgin.

Source: News stories, Motorola Solutions

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.