4-story apartment building coming to office park across from former Motorola campus

by Jennifer Shea, Daily Herald

The Schaumburg village board on Tuesday approved plans to knock down the Discovery Office Park across from the former Motorola Solutions campus and construct a four-story apartment building in its place.

The plan required the village to rezone the property at 1014 E. Algonquin Road, clearing the way for the 443,734-square-foot apartment building and an 802-space parking garage.

"It's part of our comprehensive plan to do this," Mayor Tom Dailly said. "We're taking a look at existing parcels. And this one we felt was good for residential."

The developer, Houston-based Finger Development Co., plans to begin construction on The Algonquin at Old Plum Grove this year, with apartments available to rent by fall 2020. Finger's plan calls for 275 one-bedroom apartments and 98 two-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from about 688 square feet to 1,236 square feet.

The project also will include three outdoor swimming pools, a sand volleyball court, walkways and a playground in the courtyard areas, and an outdoor dog park at the northwest corner of the building. Storage rooms, bicycle storage and a dog grooming room are planned on the basement level of the parking garage.

Built around 1980, the three-building Discovery Office Park currently sits vacant.

"The buildings that are there are very old," Trustee Marge Connelly said. "To take those down and put in something else, I think, is fine."

Connelly said there's plenty of demand for luxury apartments in the area, and there are similar properties nearby, so the zoning change is appropriate.

According to village documents, Finger conducted a study that found the Schaumburg market could support 1,500 new apartment units over the 2018-23 period. Another four-story 260-unit apartment building called Element at Veridian recently was approved for the former Motorola campus across Algonquin Road from Finger's project.

The company estimates that a maximum of 12 school-age children would live at The Algonquin at Old Plum Grove, with most of the apartments intended for singles or childless couples.

The property sits in Palatine Township Elementary District 15 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211.