Motorola Solutions sells rest of Schaumburg campus

Motorola Solutions has closed on the sale for the rest of its Schaumburg campus with plans to retain about 1,600 workers and spend about $83 million in renovations on two remaining buildings, officials said Friday.

Chicago-based UrbanStreet Group closed late Thursday on the deal for about 215 acres for an undisclosed amount. A spokesman for UrbanStreet did not return a call for comment.

"An asset-light approach is what many companies today are moving toward," said Motorola spokeswoman Tama McWhinney.

Since last September, Motorola Solutions has made its plans widely known that it would move its global headquarters to downtown Chicago and retain a portion of its workforce in Schaumburg. Between the headquarters move, and layoffs over the years, the 260-acre campus was becoming a financial burden and the land was largely unused.

On May 6, Motorola Solutions closed on the sale of 47 acres to Oak Street Real Estate Capital.

Motorola now is leasing back two buildings as the sole tenant and has started its renovation project.

Besides modernizing the workspaces and laboratories, the company will provide a training facility for customers to experience their products. The renovations are expected to be completed by mid-2017.

The Daily Herald last week reported that Schaumburg officials also arranged for a tax increment financing district on the campus.

Motorola could recover about $27 million of the intended $83 million in renovation costs from the TIF if it retains more than 1,100 workers on site. In a TIF district, the property tax revenues that go to local governments are frozen at a certain level, set on a base assessed property value. Any taxes generated above that level can go back into redevelopment.

The Schaumburg workforce is made up primarily of engineers, who work on software and hardware for company products used worldwide, McWhinney said.

Motorola Solutions will continue to work with the village on a master redevelopment plan, considering roads, property lines, rezoning, utilities and use a few existing buildings and the demolition of other buildings, McWhinney said.

The Schaumburg campus started when the company bought the old John Freise farm in 1964 and, over the years, it was transformed into a major corporate campus.

But as sprawling suburban corporate campuses began to wane in recent years, and financial woes piled up, Motorola split into two separate companies in 2011. It then sold off a portion of its Schaumburg campus to Zurich North America to build a new headquarters by 2013.

Last September, officials at Motorola Solutions said they would move the global headquarters to downtown Chicago. About 800 workers will move to 500 W. Monroe St. in downtown Chicago from mid-August through mid-September.

The company will have about 150,000 square feet on six floors on Monroe Street that will house the chief technology office, information technology and human resources, among others.

Also, Motorola Solutions will maintain its current sales headquarters for the Americas at 224 S. Michigan Ave., which houses about 300 employees.