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Archive for the ‘Sears’ Category

‘A place to last’: Hoffman Estates says goodbye to Sears HQ, hello to Compass Datacenters as redevelopment kicks off

Posted in Hoffman Estates, Property Taxes, Real Estate, Sears, Taxes on June 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A rendering of the planned Compass Datacenters campus on the former site of the Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates. | Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com

By Eric Peterson | Daily Herald

Though demolition and construction still lie ahead, Thursday marked a significant milestone in the transition of 273 acres in Hoffman Estates from Sears’ corporate headquarters into one of the largest data center campuses in Illinois.

Dallas-based Compass Datacenters hosted a kickoff event on the property, where it plans to invest $10 billion to build five hyperscale data centers — each more than a quarter-million square feet — and provide the supply of electricity they’ll require.

Among the attendees were the CEOs of Compass and ComEd, Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod, and representatives of community organizations, trade workers, and the seven-county Greater Chicago Economic Partnership.

“We’re super excited to be here,” Compass CEO Chris Crosby said. “These data centers are akin to the highway systems of the past.”

He was among the speakers who addressed the legacy of Sears, but said the goal is to exceed the company’s tenure in Hoffman Estates. The modular design of the data centers makes them easy to update, with a 100 years not out of the question, he said.

“One of our core concepts at Compass is that this will be a place to last,” Crosby added. “The economic effect of this is pretty massive.”

Read more here.

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Preparations start for demolition of former Sears corporate campus in Hoffman Estates

Posted in Hoffman Estates, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Property Taxes, Sears, Topics Of Interest on March 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Installation of a perimeter fence around the former Sears corporate campus in Hoffman Estates in April will precede its phased demolition to make way for Texas-based Compass Datacenters’ use of the 273-acre site. | Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com, 2020

By Eric Peterson | Daily Herald

Installation of a perimeter fence and security cameras over the next couple weeks will mark the start of the transformation of Sears’ former 2.4 million square feet of office space into Compass Datacenters’ new 273-acre campus in western Hoffman Estates.

Demolition of the buildings won’t begin for several more months, said Katy Hancock, vice president of community relations for Compass.

She said the buildings will be torn down one by one, with the clearing out of each one’s interior immediately preceding its demolition.

The process is expected to take until mid-2025. In the meantime, Sears’ former Building E on the campus will continue to host training exercises for area police and fire departments for as long as practical, Hancock said.

American Demolition of Carol Stream was selected for the project largely for its proven ability to minimize waste and maximize reuse of materials, she added. Concrete, stone and asphalt will be crushed on site for use as fill-in at the development of Compass’ own data center campus.

Work will be confined to the hours between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday until the demolition is complete.

More here.

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How data centers became the newest growth industry in the suburbs

Posted in Cook, County, Hoffman Estates, Real Estate, Sears, Taxes, Topics Of Interest on January 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Sears Data Cente

New data centers from Dallas-based Compass Datacenters are planned for the 273-acre former Sears campus in western Hoffman Estates. | Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com

By Eric Peterson | Daily Herald

When the restructured Transformco put its former Sears corporate campus in Hoffman Estates on the market two years ago, much head-scratching and debate followed over how its 273 acres and 2.4 million square feet of office space could be re-purposed in a post-pandemic economy.

But when Dallas-based Compass Datacenters closed on its purchase of the site in September, many local leaders and commercial real estate experts regarded its proposed data center campus as a perfect fit.

In a relatively short period of time, the data center industry has strongly established itself in the Northwest suburbs, through existing and ongoing developments in Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect and elsewhere in Hoffman Estates.

A blend of several factors enabled this, with one in particular lighting the fuse, according to Josh Levi, president of the Virginia-based Data Center Coalition.

“It was the tax incentive in Illinois that unlocked a lot of the growth you’re seeing now,” he said.

Taking effect in 2020, the state’s program offers data center owners and operators a tax credit of 20% on the wages for construction workers on projects in under-served areas. Among the criteria are an investment of at least $250 million over five years and the creation of at least 20 permanent jobs for the operation and maintenance of the facilities.

But that isn’t the only factor allowing Illinois to join the outward growth of an industry initially concentrated on the East and West coasts, Levi said.

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Done deal: Texas data center firm closes on deal for Sears campus in Hoffman Estates

Posted in Hoffman Estates, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Property Taxes, Sears, Topics Of Interest on September 12, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sears 23

Dallas-based Compass Datacenters closed on its purchase of the 273-acre former Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates on Tuesday. The village has not yet seen a detailed plan for the property. (Joe Lewnard | Staff Photographer, 2019)

The former Sears campus in Hoffman Estates may now have a promising future to go with its storied past, as Dallas-based Compass Datacenters closed on its purchase of the 273-acre site Tuesday.

The move turns a page for Hoffman Estates and closes the book on Sears’ presence in the Chicago area, from where it helped shape the national retail industry for decades.

“We are very pleased to welcome Compass Datacenters to Hoffman Estates,” Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod said in a statement. “The redevelopment of the former Sears headquarters into a data center campus begins a new chapter for this high-profile property and continues the technology diversification of our tax base. Although still preliminary, the investment by Compass will be in the billions of dollars and will have positive effects for our community for years to come.”

Representatives of Compass have not responded to requests for comment in recent weeks.

The company is in the process of being acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, according to a news release in June.

But CEO Chris Crosby’s statement at the time alludes to the ambitions demonstrated by Tuesday’s land purchase.

“The industry is at a critical inflection point today with AI and cloud demand continuing to fuel significant growth,” he wrote. “With Brookfield Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ strategic expertise and deep financial resources, Compass is ideally positioned to meet growing demand for hyperscale data centers and campuses.”

Hoffman Estates officials haven’t yet received a detailed proposal for the property, but the 2.4 million square feet of office space there seems destined for the wrecking ball.

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A data center firm is expected to close on the Sears campus this month. Then what happens?

Posted in Hoffman Estates, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Property Taxes, Real Estate, Sears, Topics Of Interest on September 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sears

Texas-based Compass Datacenters is expected to close on its purchase of the 273-acre former Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates this month, according to sources familiar with marketing of the property.

Sources familiar with efforts to market the former Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates say Dallas-based Compass Datacenters is expected to close on its purchase of the 273-acre property this month.

Such a move would solve the 20-month mystery over the fate of the sprawling office campus, as well as erase the last visible presence of a 20th-century retail giant from the state it long called home.

Hoffman Estates village officials said they could not comment on the status of any pending real estate transaction, but they indicated they are prepared for a redevelopment of the Sears site.

“Whatever it is that ends up happening, we’re ready for it,” Director of Development Services Peter Gugliotta said. “We can get through the review process fairly quickly.”

A data center campus would present a much simpler approval process for the village and other entities than Sears’ plan for the previously undeveloped land in the early 1990s.

Much of the effort back then concerned bringing infrastructure to the site — including sewer, water, roads and tollway interchanges — and the taxation mechanisms to enable it, Gugliotta said.

Read more here.

Related: “Texas data-center developer under contract to buy Sears headquarters, sources say,” “Unnamed group under contract for potential purchase of Sears campus in Hoffman Estates”

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Texas data-center developer under contract to buy Sears headquarters, sources say

Posted in 220, 300, Hoffman Estates, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Sears on July 25, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sears Holdings

A Dallas-based developer of data centers is under contract for the potential purchase of the 273-acre former Sears campus in Hoffman Estates, sources familiar with the pending transaction said.

Dallas-based Compass Datacenters is the company under contract to buy the 273-acre former Sears headquarters campus in Hoffman Estates, according to sources familiar with the pending transaction.

A developer of data center campuses, Compass Datacenters is in the process of being acquired by Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a company news release reported last month.

Compass founder and CEO Chris Crosby, along with his current management team, are expected to continue leading the company after the acquisition, which is anticipated to close by the end of the year.

Company officials could not be reached for comment on the former Sears property, but Crosby released a statement in June about the company’s sale.

“The industry is at a critical inflection point today with AI and cloud demand continuing to fuel significant growth,” Crosby said. “With Brookfield Infrastructure and Ontario Teachers’ strategic expertise and deep financial resources, Compass is ideally positioned to meet growing demand for hyperscale data centers and campuses.”

According to the company’s website, Compass has developed more than a dozen data centers around the world, including in Minneapolis, Nashville and Montreal, as well as Milan, Italy, and Israel.

More here.

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Unnamed group under contract for potential purchase of Sears campus in Hoffman Estates

Posted in 300, Cook, County, Hoffman Estates, Property Taxes, Real Estate, School Districts, Sears on July 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Sears Peterson

Transformco, owner of the former Sears headquarters in Hoffman Estates, is working with an unidentified group on the potential sale of the 273-acre corporate campus, according to village officials. (Eric Peterson | Staff Photographer, 2016)

An unidentified group is performing due diligence ahead of its possible purchase of the former Sears headquarters campus in Hoffman Estates, according to village officials.

Owner Transformco, which put the 2.4-million-square-foot office complex and 273-acre site up for sale 18 months ago, has selected the unnamed group to work with, Hoffman Estates Economic Development Director Kevin Kramer said.

Although the potential buyer and its plans for the site have not been publicly disclosed, real estate market analysts told the Daily Herald they did not believe the 30-year-old Sears campus would generate interest as an office center.

But the industrial market in the area has been hot, and Hoffman Estates has seen particular interest from data center operators.

Microsoft last winter bought an additional 30 acres adjacent to the 53-acre site where it plans a pair of 207,000-square-foot data centers on Lakewood Boulevard in Hoffman Estates, north of Bell Works Chicagoland.

Construction on one of the centers is underway and a new ComEd substation is planned to serve the campus.

Village officials earlier this week discussed raising the electricity tax rate for high-volume users like data centers as a way to fund the $16 million cost of replacing the aging Fire Station 22 at 1700 Moon Lake Blvd.

More here.

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Six apartment buildings, retail may restart Plum Farms development in Hoffman Estates

Posted in 220, 300, Deception, District 220 referendum, Intergovernmental agreements (IGA), Land Disconnection, Land Use, Politics, Property Taxes, Public Safety, School Districts, Sears, Traffic on November 2, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Plum Farms

A proposal for six three-story apartment buildings with 310 unit sand some ground-floor retail space will be the subject of a courtesy review by the Hoffman Estates village board next Monday, Nov 8. The site is the northwest corner of Higgins and Old Sutton roads.

Six apartment buildings with 310 units and retail businesses on the ground floors of the three of them could be what kicks off construction of the long-delayed Plum Farms development in Hoffman Estates.

The village board is scheduled to grant a courtesy review of the proposal by Carmel, Indiana-based CRG Residential next Monday night.

The planned three-story buildings would be constructed in two distinct styles on the northwest corner of Higgins and Old Sutton roads, said Hoffman Estates’ Director of Development Services Peter Gugliotta. One of those styles would feature 20,000 square feet of retail space on the first floor, he added.

The project would be within the 40 acres of a tax increment financing district approved in January 2020 to reimburse the cost of bringing utilities to the northwest and northeast corners of Higgins and Old Sutton. Including right of way, the TIF district totals 64 acres.

Excluding that right of way, the Plum Farms property totals 185 acres stretching from the northwest corner of Higgins Road and Route 59.

The Plum Farms annexation agreement with Hoffman Estates allows for a total of 1,250 dwelling units of various types. Gugliotta said there could be more multifamily units than the 310 CRG Residential is seeking, but single-family homes also are expected to make up a significant part of the Plum Farms development.

Read more here.

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Drive-in movies coming to Hoffman Estates’ Sears Centre Arena beginning Thursday

Posted in Sears, The New Normal?, Topics Of Interest on June 22, 2020| Leave a Comment »

The parking lot of the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates will become a temporary drive-in movie theater starting Thursday with a showing of “The Goonies.” (Mark Welsh | Staff Photographer)

The parking lot of Hoffman Estates’ Sears Centre arena will become a temporary drive-in movie theater beginning Thursday night for a showing of the 1985 adventure comedy “The Goonies.”

The movie will be projected on a 70-foot screen, with audio provided through FM transmission, according to the company behind the effort, Chicago Drive-In Theater. The company launched earlier this month with screenings at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview.

Doors open at 7 p.m., and showtime is 9 p.m. General admission tickets are $30 per car, or $50 for a preferred viewing location, and are available at www.chicagodrivein.com. Concessions will be available from a central stand as well as mobile units, offering soda, popcorn and candy.

Read more here, or go to Chicago Drive-In Theaters by clicking here.

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Hoffman Estates approves tax incentive at routes 59, 72

Posted in 220, 300, Cook, County, Hoffman Estates, IDOT, Plum Farm development, Politics, School Districts, Sears, South Barrington, Traffic on January 7, 2020| Leave a Comment »

Hoffman Estates village board members voted 6-1 Monday to approve a tax incentive to spark economic development on 64 acres along the village’s stretch of Higgins Road west of The Arboretum of South Barrington shopping center.

A larger, 185-acre area of the same site at the northwest corner of Higgins Road and Route 59 has been the subject of the concept plan for the controversial Plum Farms mixed-use development that’s been idle for the past 2½ years since a lawsuit was filed over its residential density.

That lawsuit was originally filed by residents of the nearby Regency of the Woods of South Barrington retirement community. After Barrington Unit District 220 intervened in the suit on the side of the residents, the retirement community settled its portion.

Last month, District 220’s own lingering case was dismissed by a judge based on a legal precedent. But at its next meeting on Jan. 14, school the board intends to choose among its options to file a motion for reconsideration, file a notice of appeal or let the judge’s ruling lie, Superintendent Brian Harris said.

Read more here.

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