Chicago Office Redevelopment Enters Phase 2

Inspired by Somerset Development has broken ground on the second phase of Bell Works Chicagoland, the redevelopment of a former AT&T campus totaling 1.6 million square feet in Hoffman Estates, Ill., a Chicago submarket.

Plans for Phase 2, also known as West Side, call for the transformation of obsolete office space into 430,000 square feet of traditional office, 35,000 square feet of fully furnished office suites for short- and long-term leases and 70,000 square feet of retail space. Completion is scheduled for the third quarter of next year.

Out with the old, in with the new

The former AT&T campus, completed in 1989 at 2000 Center Drive, has been vacant since 2016. Inspired acquired the 150-acre, three-building property in 2019 in partnership with Triangle Capital Group for $21 million, according to CommercialEdge.

Upon full build-out, the more than 1.6 million-square-foot Bell Works Chicagoland will include shared office spaces, outdoor spaces, a 30,000-square-foot fitness center, event and conference centers and an indoor piazza. Additionally, the development will provide build-to-suit opportunities. Inspired already leased 95 percent of the project’s first phase, dubbed East Side, which totals 420,000 square feet.

Development partners include architecture firm Wight & Co. and interior designer npz studio+. The master plan is set to be the first metroburb—a self-contained urban core in a suburban setting—in the Chicago area.

The first U.S. metroburb

Inspired first launched the Bell Works model in 2013 in Holmdel, N.J. The firm redeveloped the 2 million-square-foot Bell labs headquarters into a first-of-its-kind metroburb. That campus spans 475 acres and was acquired in 2013 for $27 million.

At the beginning of this year, the firm acquired a 276,900-square-foot office building near that redevelopment, according to Real Estate New Jersey. Commvault is currently using the building as its headquarters and will remain a prominent tenant, occupying 75,000 square feet.

Chicago’s construction activity stalls

Chicago’s office development pipeline as of May was under 800,000 square feet, according to the latest CommercialEdge office report. The metro’s vacancy rate during the same month was 19.6 percent, 20 basis points above the national average.

Fulton Street is set to complete 919 West Fulton this year, a 409,000-square-foot office building within the metro. The property topped out last year and will be the tallest in the Fulton Market Historic District, rising 11 stories.