Veridian development in Schaumburg marks 10 years since purchase of former Motorola campus

Tuesday marked 10 years of the transformation of the former Motorola Solutions campus in Schaumburg into today’s mixed-use Veridian development with the anniversary of the 225-acre land purchase by developer UrbanStreet Group.

In presenting his plans for the next few years to Schaumburg officials recently, Managing Partner Bob Burk of Inverness recalled that visionary step was 90% based on a handshake.

He acknowledged the steady and ongoing presence of Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald and Economic Development Director Matt Frank, the first village officials with whom he met and shared the idea of a unified redevelopment.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” Burk said. “The cohesiveness of the leadership we’ve had here, it’s a big deal.”

In September 2015, Motorola confirmed long-rumored plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago after a half century in Schaumburg. Later that fall, village officials were hearing from consultants that dividing the campus into 20 parcels might be the best path toward encouraging its redevelopment.

Frank said it always would have been the preferable option to work with a single master developer. But the challenge the village faced was that Motorola still controlled the property — until suddenly, one day, it didn’t.

UrbanStreet Group and Schaumburg gradually worked out a shared vision for a virtually self-contained community of offices, homes, stores, restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues at the southwest corner of Algonquin and Meacham roads.

But the Veridian development also would be very much part of the village as a whole through a network of public roads and the presence of a 12-acre, city-style park.

“It takes some fortitude and patience, but it’s incredibly rewarding to see,” Frank said.

Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly said a mixed-use development was what the village wanted to see and the path taken to get there was clearly the best.

“It’s been easier dealing with one developer, one point of contact,” he added.

Such a large blank canvas gave the development the opportunity to reflect fresher trends and a more urban feel than what was typical in the region.

“We want it to feel urban, dense and walkable,” Fitzgerald said in 2018.

From the start, Burk characterized the project as part of what he considers only the second chapter of the suburbs’ history.

“The suburbs have never really had to evolve before,” he said in 2017. “They're really not that old.”

In his recent recap of more than $500 million in construction projects and the suggestion of about $1 billion more, Burk told officials one characteristic of urban areas is the sense they’ve developed gradually over time and reflect a progression of styles.

One of the continuing challenges for the Veridian development is to design and build new buildings side by side that look like the evolution of a neighborhood over 40 years, he said.

That’s why even the conceptual designs of tall and taller residential buildings in the 30-acre Main Street-like area along Algonquin Road are far from the typically suburban cookie-cutter match for one another.

In the property’s prior configuration as a corporate campus, it was difficult for many to recognize it rivaled Chicago’s Loop in size. But residents of the earlier developed west side are now finding it easier to see the park and Main Street area to the east as walkable amenities, Burk said.

Merely the first phase of what’s called The District at Veridian is about to deliver 321 new apartment units, more than 55,000 square feet of retail, The Fresh Market grocery store, restaurants and a public parking structure with more than 800 spaces.

But the past decade has affirmed officials’ early hope that redevelopment can enable a municipality to not only survive but thrive after the loss of an element as tied to its identity as Motorola was to Schaumburg’s.

“It's not a great day when your largest employer tells you they're leaving,” Fitzgerald said in 2017. “I won't sugarcoat it. But then you plan.”

epeterson@dailyherald.com