A sizable former AT&T campus in suburban Chicago will be redeveloped into mixed-use, despite "sluggish" local leasing activity and the potential closure of Sears' nearby headquarters.
Ryan Ori reports on the planned redevelopment of a former corporate campus, now vacant, several miles from the headquarters of Sears. "If Sears folds, it would lead to mass job losses in the area and would leave the retailer's 2.4 million-square-foot headquarters vacant. Already, Hoffman Estates is in an area of the Chicago suburbs where office leasing is sluggish."
The developers are pressing forward with the project, which they characterize as a "metroburb, a metropolis in suburbia." Ori writes, "[Somerset Development] is betting that it can overcome a location far from downtown Chicago and soft leasing demand by providing a unique setting to work, shop, dine and live."
Plans include a variety of uses. "Somerset wants to convert the vacant buildings into 1.2 million square feet of offices, 60,000 square feet of shops and restaurants, and 80,000 square feet of conference space. The developer also has approval for construction of 379 rental apartments, 171 for-sale townhomes and a hotel on the land."
FULL STORY: Developer says huge Hoffman Estates project moving forward, with or without Sears in town
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Journal of the American Planning Association