Steven W. Kling, principal; and Jason M. Simon, senior vice president, both with the Office Advisory Group of Colliers International | Chicago, have been retained by Rockville, MD-based BECO Management Inc. (BECO) to market and lease the 1.1 million-square-foot former Motorola Mobility campus in north suburban Libertyville. BECO closed on its purchase of the 84-acre campus at 600 N. U.S. Highway 45 in July 2014. Motorola Mobility vacated the facility in spring 2014 to relocate to the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago.
“We are flattered and so excited to have been selected as BECO’s partner for this tremendous endeavor,” said David R. Kahnweiler, SIOR, chairman and CEO of Colliers | Chicago. “We are extremely confident in our leasing team that has a long history of successful large scale property repositioning projects and will certainly expend all resources necessary to support the redevelopment efforts,”‘ he added.
BECO is planning very significant renovations of the campus to attract office tenants, similar to the 1.8 million-square-foot former IBM campus in Charlotte, N.C. that it purchased in 2010. That property, re-branded as “Innovation Park Charlotte” was only 30 percent occupied at the time of purchase, but following a $100 million renovation, is now 95 percent leased. BECO plans to launch the Innovation Park concept with the Libertyville project, which is expected to be ready for occupancy by office tenants in the summer or early fall of 2015.
