Those who live and work in Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates are no strangers to the sights and sounds of construction. When we’re talking growth, the two northwest suburbs have been among the busiest in the Chicago area.
As the towns approach middle age, however, the type of development projects reflect each village’s efforts to fill voids.
In Schaumburg, work continues to establish the downtown-like area that it never had. In Hoffman Estates, village leaders are trying to satisfy the growing desire of its white collar workers to further their educations in their own back yards.
What follows are 10 projects that are changing the horizons of the two towns.
Hoffman Estates
Northern Illinois University
One of the most anticipated new projects is the construction of yet another satellite campus of Northern Illinois University.
The university arrived in town in 1992 and has a 56,000-square-foot facility at the Sears campus in Hoffman Estates.
“That facility has been at full capacity since 1994, 1 1/2 years after it was completed,” said Eddie Williams, senior vice president of finance and facilities for the university.
The school’s second campus will be a 20-acre site at the Northwest Tollway (Interstate Highway 90) and Shoe Factory Road.
“We’re anticipating an education center there that would provide primarily graduate-level instruction in areas such as business, education and computer science,” said Williams.
Date: The facility is in the design phase, said Williams, and the price tag has not yet been determined. However, estimates are in the $15 million to $20 million range.
University Place
The development of the second Northern Illinois University campus has been made possible by a donation of land from another Hoffman Estates project: University Place.
This $170 million multi-use project will incorporate the new NIU campus at its 200-acre site. It is the last large parcel of open land in the area.
University Place also will feature 500 homes, including 420 “active adult” maintenance-free homes and 80 single-family dwellings. Home prices will start at $160,000 and go into the $300,000s.
University Place also will feature a hotel on 40 acres, and a commercial development on 20 acres.
“Hoffman Estates is a tremendous location,” said Bill French, entitlements manager for the Schaumburg-based Ryland Homes, one of the developers of the project. “With the amount of growth that has taken place there, this will be a wonderful opportunity.”
Date: Groundbreaking on the project is expected in the spring, and it will take five years to complete, said French.
Hilton Garden Inn
Also changing the landscape of Hoffman Estates will be the $17.5 million Hilton Garden Inn, which is under construction at a 3.5 acre site between Barrington and Central Roads, just north of the Northwest Tollway.
The seven-story, 98,000-square-foot hotel will feature 184 rooms; a pavilion with a lobby, dining area and TV lounge; and four meeting rooms.
Date: Expected completion date for the hotel is October.
Roselle, Golf, Higgins
Hoffman Estates also plans to invest in existing developments, and consultants are analyzing the business district that runs along Roselle Road from Golf to Higgins Roads. The area includes the Golf Center and Hoffman Plaza shopping centers.
“There are shopping centers there that are 35 years old or older,” said Rich Unwin, the director of community development for Hoffman Estates. “The area is where some of the initial commercial development took place in the village.”
Some redevelopment already has taken place along the strip. Valley Produce has been remodeling a 40,000-square-foot former drug and hair care supply store that will transform it into a supermarket in a few months.
The state also has widened Roselle Road from two lanes to three lanes in each direction.
Date: Unwin said the consultants’ reports are due by summer. “We’re not sure what direction we’re taking but we will look at strategies to maximize the potential of the area,” he said.
Land Rover
A sign of both Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates’ growing affluence is the construction of the Land Rover Hoffman Estates dealership at 1051 W. Higgins Rd.
The $4 million project will have more than 14,000 squarefeet of car dealership space on four acres, said Denise Guardino, president of Bill Jacobs Motor Sports, which is building the facility.
“It is the largest Land Rover center in the United States,” said Guardino.
She expects the dealership to sell more than 500 new vehicles and 200 to 300 used Land Rovers annually. “Land Rover is really a wonderful family vehicle and Hoffman Estates is a big family area,” she said.
“Hoffman Estates is one of the best places to do business,” said Bill Jacobs, who also owns Land Rover dealerships in Barrington and Hinsdale. “In the automobile market, dealers in the Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates market are among the largest volume dealerships in the Chicago area.”
Date: The dealership is expected to open in fall.
Schaumburg
Convention center
Schaumburg officials recently voted to start the ball rolling to construct a convention center just north of the Northwest Tollway and east of Meacham Road.
The village will spend $13 million to buy 45 acres for the facility. The location is one of the last large parcels of open land left in Schaumburg.
Village officials said it is premature to determine the size and scope of the project. There are plans, however, to organize a committee to study the need for a convention center.
Date: A hopeful five years to complete.
Schaumburg Road corridor
Work, meanwhile, continues on the five-year-plus, $14 million enhancement program for the Schaumburg Road corridor, which travels through the middle of the village. Started in the spring of 1998, the project is geared to “improve the character of Schaumburg Road,” said Frank Robbins, the planning director of Schaumburg.
“People now feel better about driving on that road,” he said, “and it makes a statement about Schaumburg as a place.”
So far, sections of the road and its medians have been landscaped with trees, shrubs and flowers. Medians also have been redesigned for improved traffic management. This year, village officials will continue with parkway landscaping and start burying utility cables and removing utility poles.
Pocket parks also will be established, such as one at Roselle and Schaumburg Roads.
The project is tied to Schaumburg’s Town Square, the village’s effort to create a town center. In the last year, retail, including a Dominick’s Finer Foods, has been added to the space as has the new Schaumburg Township Library. Last year, the village also spent $300,000 to improve landscaping and a bridge over a creek.
Date: Most work expected to be complete by 2003.
Martindale, Higgins Roads
Enhancement work continues on Martindale and Higgins Roads. Construction began last year and will end this year.
“Basically, the road needed to be reconstructed,” said Robbins, “and the village took the opportunity to look at what can be done in that area comprehensively.”
Aesthetic improvements include landscaped medians and parkways, the addition of decorative lighting and buried utility lines.
Date: Most work is expected to be completed this year.
Alexian Field
Although it’s already gone through its inaugural season, there is more ahead for Alexian Field, the home stadium of the Schaumburg Flyers professional minor league baseball club.
“We believe in providing activities locally to make the community a well-rounded place,” said Ken Fritz, Schaumburg village manager. “We’re trying to foster a strong recreational component here, and the stadium fills that.”
Located at 1999 S. Springinsguth Rd., the $17 million stadium, which opened in May, was financed by the Village of Schaumburg and the Schaumburg Park District. The 7,000-plus seat stadium will be expanded later this year when work begins on a $1.7 million, 6,500-square-foot stadium club restaurant on the first-base side of the ballpark.
The Schaumburg Flyers–part of the 16-team independent Northern League–will play 43 home games this year. The facility also will be used for events such as the Schaumburg High School graduation.
Date: The restaurant is expected to be completed in April 2001.
Sculpture Park
The Chicago Athenaeum’s International Sculpture Park is another example of the village trying to improve the quality of life for its residents, said Fritz.
“The park is our way for people here to have a better appreciation of the arts and culture,” he said.
Opened two years ago, the 20-acre park features 10 sculptures, and the evolving collection includes two added last year. Works encompass a number of mediums, including stone and wood. The park is located behind the village municipal center and the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts at Schaumburg and Plum Grove Roads.
Date: Announcements expected in May about new sculptures for this year.
