UrbanStreet Group Scores Big Chicago-Area Construction Loan

UrbanStreet Group locked down a major round of financing for its long-awaited transformation of the former Motorola campus in Schaumburg.

The Chicago-based developer secured a $94 million construction loan from Bank OZK for the project’s first phase, according to Cook County property records, Crain’s reported.

The initial $175 million phase of the 225-acre Veridian development recently started construction at the southwest corner of Algonquin and Meacham roads.

It will include 321 apartments and 60,000 square feet of retail, anchored by a Fresh Market grocery store.

The overall development is expected to total more than $1 billion in investment, with about 200,000 square feet of shops and restaurants and more than 600 residential units.

UrbanStreet Managing Partner Bob Burk declined to discuss financing specifics but told the outlet that the project’s ability to secure capital highlights investor confidence in suburban Chicago’s steady apartment market. Burk said the region’s stable rent growth contrasts with rent declines in oversupplied Sun Belt markets.

Schaumburg, known for its corporate base and retail density, lacks a walkable downtown — something Veridian aims to create. The project builds on a trend of suburban “mini-urban” developments combining housing, dining and entertainment outside city centers.

“Out in the suburbs you’re seeing a lot of growth because of this type of project, where people can get an actual urban-esque type experience but maybe not have to go all the way into the city,” Burk said.

The financing adds another big-ticket deal to the lender’s Chicago-area construction portfolio. Schaumburg officials also committed $47 million in public financing through a tax-increment financing district, according to the Daily Herald.

UrbanStreet acquired the Motorola site in 2016, a year after the tech giant moved its headquarters downtown, leaving the suburban campus largely vacant.

Since then, the developer has added the Element at Veridian apartments, attracted a TopGolf facility in 2019 and drawn in homebuilder D.R. Horton, which is building 260 townhomes there. Manufacturing firm The Boler Cos also relocated its headquarters to Veridian.

Completion of the first phase is expected in 2027, marking a major step in turning one of the northwest suburbs’ largest vacant corporate campuses into a dense, mixed-use district.

— Eric Weilbacher