Two new buildings in Schaumburg may signal a turnaround

New office construction in the near Northwest suburbs has been nearly unheard of in the 21st century, but two new buildings in Schaumburg could be a small sign of turnaround in the years-long slump.

Schaumburg trustees this week approved both one-story and two-story buildings to be added to the Lakewoods Corporate Center at 680 E. Algonquin Road.

They'll join an existing four-story building on the property, as well as a residential-style day care center.

"The market is pretty soft right now," Schaumburg's Economic Development Coordinator Matt Frank said of the village's office space, which he said is currently 19 percent vacant.

He added that it was even a little surprising in the current market that the developers at Deerfield-based Cobblestone Land Co. were proceeding with the project.

Cobblestone representatives couldn't be reached for comment. Both buildings are to be leased by a number of other businesses.

Neighboring Rolling Meadows also has experienced a low demand for new office space in recent years.

"Like Schaumburg, we're not seeing new buildings going up right now," Rolling Meadows City Manager Tom Melena said. "We are seeing some old buildings getting rehabbed."

Schaumburg's 9 million square feet of office space makes it the largest supply in the region. But Rolling Meadows' 4 million square feet puts it firmly in second place, Melena said.

At the start of the 2001-2003 recession, Rolling Meadows deliberately embarked on a six- to eight-year moratorium on new office space to allow the market to adjust and mature.

But there haven't been any proposals in the meantime that have had to be turned down, Melena added.

The lack of new construction allowed the occupancy rate of Rolling Meadows' existing office stock to jump from 75 percent to 80 percent into the low 90s, Melena said.

The occupancy rate has since dropped back down to the mid-80s but is still better than the early years of the decade.

In Schaumburg, Cobblestone's new one-story, 18,400-square-foot office building will be the closest to Algonquin Road, followed by the two-story, 50,000-square-foot building.

"We tried to get a stair-step approach of going from four stories to two stories to one story," Schaumburg Community Development Director Christopher Huff said.

The buildings were designed to match each other's appearance but not the existing four-story building.

Construction likely will begin next year.

There's still space available on the property closest to Algonquin Road that's being reserved for a restaurant, Huff said.