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Next up for Schaumburg's former Motorola campus: 260 apartments

With a Topgolf entertainment center ready to begin construction this fall, a 260-unit apartment building may be the next new development on the former Motorola Solutions corporate campus in Schaumburg.

Village trustees could approve the Element at Veridian building at their Sept. 25 meeting. The village's zoning board unanimously recommended approval last month, while the two school districts that would serve it are for now refraining from any objection.

Though the overall zoning for the 225-acre Motorola redevelopment plan, known as Veridian, allows a more dense and urban feel for a suburban setting, the Element at Veridian building will be only four stories high and wrap around the parking structure within, masking it from outside view.

Bob Burk, managing partner of Chicago-based developer UrbanStreet Group LLC, said taller structures might show up in future stages of the redevelopment, the main focus is to create a diversity of uses.

"The design is influenced by a more loft-style building," Burk said of the Element project. "Urbanization is not something to be afraid of. Our goal is not to overurbanize. This is more Lincoln Park than the Loop. More like the (Chicago) neighborhoods."

UrbanStreet Group is partnering with fellow Chicago developer VennPoint Real Estate on the building and aiming for completion by early spring 2020, Burk added.

Palatine Township Elementary District 15 Superintendent Scott Thompson said the residential side of the Veridian development is something both he and administrators in Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 are staying apprised of. But the proposed apartment building's 201 studio and one-bedroom units, 51 two-bedroom units and eight three-bedroom units are not expected to generate many students, he added.

"The (Schaumburg) village manager is aware of our concerns with these developments producing students who will add to the attendance of our schools," Thompson said. "However, we are negotiating financial support for any student produced by the development, and we will continue to advocate for the school systems and their taxpayers throughout the development process."

District 211 Superintendent Dan Cates agreed.

"Effective communication among local government entities is in everyone's best interest, and we have communicated regularly with the village of Schaumburg," Cates said. "According to student generation reports, we anticipate that the number of new students who could enter District 211 from this development will be marginal."

Among the next steps in the redevelopment of Motorola's former global headquarters is the demolition of its Galvin Center and large factory building in the weeks ahead. Environmental remediation and interior demolition on those is already done, Burk said.

Several more buildings will be demolished by next summer. The only existing buildings UrbanStreet Group will keep are a six-story office building, the credit union building on Algonquin Road and a small welcome center.

Future components of the redevelopment are a senior living facility, row houses and some potential corporate and health care users. None of those are likely to become formal proposals until 2019, Burk said.

The big construction project of 2018 has been the nearly $10.2 million public road the village is building through the former campus to connect Algonquin and Meacham roads.

Schaumburg Transportation Director Karyn Robles said that project remains on schedule and is expected to open to traffic this winter ahead of its full completion next summer.

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