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Former Motorola Libertyville campus sees first tenant

The first tenant has agreed to move into the former Motorola Mobility campus in Libertyville, now a multi-tenant technology campus.

Valent BioSciences, a maker of environmentally friendly pesticides, is expecting to build a new biorational research center as an expansion of its current facilities in Libertyville. Valent plans to move its research center there from its current location in Long Grove. All of the company's research workers are expected to make the move.

Valent plans to occupy 85,000 square feet at the former Motorola property, now called Innovation Park Lake County.

The last of 2,500 Motorola employees left the sprawling 1.2 million-square-foot campus for Chicago in April 2014. Maryland-based developer BECO Management Inc. came on board a few months later paying $9.5 million for the property with the aim of re-imagining the campus for multiple companies that would sink deep roots.

As the name suggests, Innovation Park Lake County is intended as the place for forward-thinking companies. From bowling alleys to bocce, bistros, massage therapists and fitness centers, BECO Management promises tenants a workplace "unlike any other anywhere," according to "Hello, Chicago," a company promotional video about the property at Route 45 south of Winchester Road in Libertyville.

Meanwhile, part of a larger scale investment plan by parent Sumitomo Chemical Co., the project includes an approximately 65,000 square foot build-out for dedicated lab and office space and an additional 20,000 square feet of greenhouse space at Innovation Park.

Valent BioSciences is a subsidiary of Japanese chemical company Sumitomo Chemical and is a leader in the development, manufacturing and commercialization of biorational products with sales in 95 countries around the world.

"This new research center is a key part of a continuum of investments being made by Sumitomo Chemical for the development of our biorational business," said Ted Melnik, executive vice president and chief operating officer of VBC. "With our new fermentation manufacturing plant in Osage, Iowa, the acquisitions of Pace International and Mycorrhizal Applications, and other recently announced license and business collaborations, we aim to maintain our biorational leadership position for years to come."

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