California-based 3Com Corp. said this week it will build a $256 million office complex in northwest suburban Rolling Meadows.
The Santa Clara-based company plans to locate a large portion of its corporate engineering, design, sales and marketing staff along the tollway near O’Hare International Airport.
The announcement by Gov. Jim Edgar and a group of 3Com executives was hailed as a shot in the arm for Illinois’ flagging image as a high-technology center, sometimes called Silicon Prairie.
The work force at what 3Com will call its Rolling Meadows Campus could grow to as many as 6,500 people, company executives said.
Lounge act
McClier Corp. has completed the design of the United Airlines VIP lounge at the Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The new Red Carpet Lounge and Arrivals Lounge will bring to France a touch of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where McClier assisted in the development of United’s first Arrivals Lounge on Concourse C.
The Red Carpet Lounge includes a bar, conference and meeting rooms and a fully equipped business center. The Arrivals Lounge provides first-class passengers with shower and valet services. The McClier designs are prototypes that United plans to introduce at other worldwide destinations.
The Paris project cost $1.3 million.
New brand
Washington National Insurance Co. has subleased its entire 171,000-square-foot corporate headquarters in Lincolnshire to Acco, a division of American Brands.
The building, at 300 Tower Pkwy. in the Lincolnshire Corporate Center, was built especially for Washington National just four years ago when the company relocated from Evanston. But the sale of a number of business units and the pending purchase of Washington National by Penn Corp. left the company with excess space.
Julien J. Studley, which represented the insurer in the deal, said Acco would assume the existing long-term lease on the property. The company will move this month.
Merging lanes
The completion of a merger between CB Commercial Real Estate Group and Koll Real Estate Services is expected to strengthen CB Commercial’s position in the Chicago marketplace.
The addition of 56 Koll staffers will bring the combined company of CB Commercial to 294 employees in the Chicago region. The impact of the merger is most profound in the third-party management arena, where the addition of the Koll’s portfolio nearly doubles the amount of office, retail and industrial space under CB’s portfolio to 13.2 million square feet.
CB Commercial will now operate out of two downtown offices in addition to its four suburban sites.
On tour
The Edgewater Historical Society will hold its 9th Annual Home Tour from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 21 on the city’s North Side. The tour this year features the Edgewater North area, which was developed in the 1890s.
The tour will begin at the Granville Avenue United Methodist Church, 1307 W. Granville. Six homes plus the church will be open for visits. Donation is $10 per person.
The tour benefits the Edgewater Historical Society, which is developing a museum at 5358 N. Ashland Ave. For more information phone 773-907-1872.
Staying put
Chapman and Cutler, one of Chicago’s oldest law firms, has renewed its lease for 162,000 square feet in the Harris Bank Building, 111 W. Monroe St.
Goldie B. Wolfe & Co., which represented Chapman and Cutler, said the firm, which has acquired a national reputation for its municipal finance work, decided to stay in the space it has occupied since its founding in 1913 because it was happy with both the location and management of the building.
Packed house
The Illinois Development Finance Authority has issued $1.95 million in bonds on behalf of Kendal Real Estate Co., which will use the proceeds to acquire and renovate a manufacturing facility at 1040-50 W. 40th St. in Chicago.
Kendal Packaging, a division of Elkhart Container, will occupy the plant. Kendal produces corrugated shipping containers and point-of-purchase displays.
———-
Chicago Tribune real estate editor Steve Kerch reviews realty news and answers your questions on housing and other topics on The Real Estate Show every Friday from 9:40 to 10 a.m. on Channel 26-WCIU.
