The Hoffman Estates business community saw growth on many fronts in 2023, but Dallas-based Compass Datacenters’ purchase of the 273-acre former Sears headquarters was the headline at Mayor Bill McLeod’s annual community update Wednesday.
Speaking to a meeting of the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce, the mayor introduced company representatives to explain their planned redevelopment of the site, which is home to 2.4 million square feet of vacant office space.
McLeod said the company’s billion-dollar investment will bring benefits to the village for years to come.
“I guess I can’t express how happy we are to have you here, but I’ll try,” he told Compass representatives. “It’s sad to see beautiful buildings go, but times change and we have to change with the times.”
Katie Hancock of Compass Datacenters speaks Wednesday to a gathering of the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce during the Mayor’s Current Affairs Breakfast at Now Arena.
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Katie Hancock, vice president of community relations for Compass, said great care will be taken to apply preservation principles in the redevelopment of the site. She dispelled what she called a common myth that data center campuses consume a lot of water, adding that Compass relies on an efficient air cooling system.
Brett Collard, the company’s vice president of development, said that after months of planning, demolition of the Sears buildings will likely begin in late spring.
Compass Datacenters primarily develops its campuses for one tenant each, and the Hoffman Estates site will likely follow that model, Collard said. While no specific user has been set in advance, companies will be in the market for the growing site, he added.
Once some of the construction is complete and the campus’s power needs are met, the initial phase of the development is expected to be operational in late 2026, Collard said.
Meanwhile, the former Sears buildings were used for emergency staging for training involving 100 firefighters, 300 police officers and 25 police dogs from the region, Compass director of global operations John Kozlosky said.
Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod speaks to members of the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce Wednesday morning at Now Arena.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
Even before the Compass news broke last year, Hoffman Estates was named a 2023 Municipality of the Year by the Illinois Real Estate Journal, McLeod said. The recognition came for other successes, including the steady relocation of the business to Bell Works Chicagoland.
Construction of townhomes and apartments will soon begin at the redeveloped former AT&T headquarters.
Other breakthroughs in the past year include the construction of the 296-unit Seasons of Hoffman Estates, the village’s first multifamily housing project in more than three decades; completion of the first of two new 200,000-square-foot data centers for Microsoft; the first two recreational marijuana dispensaries in the village; the first of two Popeyes Louisiana Chicken restaurants; and two new Dunkin’s and a Starbucks, McLeod said.
The village has budgeted $44 million in capital projects for 2024, most prominently the replacement of Fire Station 21 at 225 Flagstaff Lane, which will break ground later this year in neighboring Chino Park
Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod joins a video of himself singing a village-specific version of Frank Sinatra’s hit “It Was a Very Good Year” Wednesday during the Mayor’s Current Breakfast at Now Arena.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
Additional improvements are also expected for the Virginia Mary Hayter Village Green adjacent to Now Arena.
Ben Gibbs, general manager of both sites, said the venues broke records last year in all revenue categories. The Now Arena found itself in the national spotlight when it hosted the Core Hydration Classic gymnastics event in early August, which saw the return of Olympian Simone Biles to the sport.
And while the arena — with the NBA G League’s Windy City Bulls as a regular tenant — continues to be a regional interest, Gibbs has high hopes that the Village Green and its Hideaway Brew Garden & Bar will be a local hub of fun activities for the site’s Village residents of a centralized center.
“We’re getting bigger. We are adding things,” he said. “We would like this to become a gathering place for the community.”
Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod addresses members of the Hoffman Estates Chamber of Commerce during the Mayor’s Community Update Breakfast Wednesday at Now Arena.
Brian Hill/[email protected]
