Plan to redevelop Allstate property in South Barrington is progressing

Redevelopment plans for the former Allstate Corp. headquarters near South Barrington are gaining steam.

A real estate company called Opus wants to purchase the roughly 67-acre site at Higgins and Bartlett roads from Allstate and construct three light-industrial buildings.

To smooth the way for that plan, Allstate has asked the South Barrington village board to annex the land, which had been part of the village until it was disconnected by a court order last year. It’s now considered to be in unincorporated Cook County.

South Barrington’s plan commission, which advises the village board on development matters, recommended approval of the site plan last week.

The village board is expected to consider the proposal when it next meets at 7 p.m. July 9 at village hall, 30 Barrington Road.

The proposed annexation is a separate legal matter. The board will discuss it at a future date following a public hearing, said the village’s attorney, James Vasselli.

Neither the annexation hearing nor a vote have been scheduled.

Now dubbed the Northwest 90 Corporate Park, the Allstate property is just north of the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway and across the Higgins/Bartlett intersection from the Arboretum of South Barrington shopping center.

Buildings on the property were razed after Allstate consolidated its corporate operations in Northbrook in 2012.

Allstate successfully sued to have the land disconnected from the village to accommodate a plan for an industrial complex put forth by Hillwood, a Texas real-estate developer founded by H. Ross Perot Jr., the son of the late billionaire and presidential candidate Ross Perot. A Cook County judge approved the disconnection in February 2025.

Hillwood is out of the picture now. Opus has a contract to purchase the land, South Barrington officials have said, and the Minnesota company wants to fold it back into the village.

Allstate’s request for annexation after getting the land excised from the village is unique, Vasselli has said.

In an email Monday, Mayor Paul McCombie thanked the Opus team for its “professionalism, responsiveness and willingness to work collaboratively with the village.” She also thanked staffers at village hall and plan commission members for carefully evaluating the proposal.

“I appreciate all the heavy lifting and hard work on this project,” McCombie said.