The long-quiet Motorola atrium in Schaumburg is on track to trade in cubicles for couches, as UrbanStreet Group rolls out plans to convert the six-story landmark into roughly 300 apartments as part of its sprawling District at Veridian project. The vision: keep the dramatic office shell, add a smaller four-story sister building, layer in street-level retail, a hotel and new parking, and turn a suburban office relic into a walkable mini-downtown. Village trustees got their first detailed look in an informal presentation earlier this week.
What the Plan Would Do
UrbanStreet managing partner Bob Burk told trustees the former Motorola atrium, about 360,200 square feet, would become “a poster child for the creative conversion of an office building to apartments,” with the two buildings together delivering around 300 units. Interior demolition could kick off as soon as this fall or winter, with work on the exterior skin lined up for spring and construction on the new sister building expected to follow next summer, according to the Daily Herald.
Financing and the First Phase
UrbanStreet has already bundled the conversion into the broader financial package powering Veridian. The Real Deal reports the developer locked in a $94 million construction loan from Bank OZK in 2025 and pegged the first phase at about $175 million. That initial round is slated to include 321 apartments and roughly 60,000 square feet of retail space, with Fresh Market in line as the anchor tenant.
How It Fits Into the District
The conversion is another puzzle piece in a years-long effort to turn the 225-acre former Motorola campus into a mixed-use “mini-urban” core stacked with shops, restaurants and housing. UrbanStreet broke ground last year on a 30-acre retail district that at full build-out could bring more than 200,000 square feet of retail and over 600 residential units, joining existing draws like Topgolf and D.R. Horton at the site, per REBusinessOnline. If it all comes together, the old corporate campus starts looking a lot less like an office park and a lot more like a downtown.
Local Reaction and Next Moves
Trustees seemed more than a little impressed. Mayor Tom Dailly said he was “blown away” by the designs, according to the Daily Herald. Burk also told village officials that UrbanStreet plans to roll out announcements on ground-floor entertainment and restaurant tenants for the nearby nine-story building in the coming weeks, as reported by The Real Deal.
If approvals stay on track, interior demolition could start this fall, with a first-phase opening targeted in 2027. The team is relying on a mix of private financing and local incentives to push the work across the finish line, according to REBusinessOnline. For Schaumburg, the high-profile remake is shaping up as a closely watched test of whether aging suburban office stock can be reborn as the centerpiece of a walkable, lived-in downtown core.
