411-unit apartment building replacing four Schaumburg office buildings
In the latest example of a market favoring residential growth over office space, a Schaumburg property owner has won village approval to replace four vacant single-story office buildings with a 411-unit apartment building on Algonquin Road.
Trustees Tuesday unanimously approved RMS Properties' proposal to transform the former Atrium Office Center at 850 E. Algonquin Road into a four-story apartment building consisting of five wings and an attached parking garage on 12.6 acres.
Construction is expected to take from 1½ to 2 years.
Though the pandemic has caused some changes in the real estate market, this property's potential for redevelopment as multifamily residential was identified as far back as the village's North Schaumburg Plan in 2014, Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said.
The proposed unit mix includes 51 studios, 260 one-bedrooms, 92 two-bedrooms and eight three-bedrooms.
Perhaps one of the clearest reflections of the pandemic and the current trend of remote working is in the design of dedicated office space in some of the one- and two-bedroom floor plans, project architect Mehran Farahmandpour said.
He added that occupancy of the Atrium Office Center had been dwindling for some time, and probably wasn't more than half full in a decade.
"Even before the pandemic, this corridor didn't have a lot of office uses," he said.
The four-story attached garage would be on the west side of the building and able to accommodate 702 vehicles and two electric vehicle charging stations.
Farahmandpour described the building as being at the upper end of the suburban market in terms of amenities.
The wings of the building will be separated by 87 to 91 feet of open space designed to provide a parklike environment and sense of privacy.
Though each unit will have a stacked washer and dryer, a credit card-operated laundromat would also be among the amenities of a penthouse-level common area.
That central fourth-floor area will also include two living room spaces, work and conference spaces, a pantry/cafe and a party room. An adjacent outdoor roof space features two barbecue areas, landscaped areas, a dog run and a sports court.
Other amenities include storage rooms, bicycle storage and a dog grooming room in the basement of the parking garage, and a health club with indoor jet pools, a hot tub, steam and sauna rooms, weight and fitness rooms, a yoga studio and locker rooms.