After being vacant for nearly four years, the former OfficeMax headquarters in Naperville has been bought by a developer.
Franklin Partners, a Naperville-based developer, plans to revamp the 354,000 square-foot building off of Shuman Boulevard.
“When OfficeMax left they took 2,500 jobs with them, and I know the residential real estate market was left really depressed from that because all those homes hit the market in a fairly short period of time,” explained City of Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico. “And so now the opposite is true, as they start to fill that space and people start to move in and populate that upward pressure on the homes will take place. So that’s great for our homeowners, great for our tax base. It’s great for our businesses. It’s really just all good.”
The purchase price of the building has yet to be disclosed, however Franklin Partners and the enlisted architecture firm, Wright Heerema, plan to modernize the 32-year-old building with a downtown Chicago high-rise look.
Plans for upgrading the lobby, dining options and conference rooms, along with adding co-working lounges, a fitness center, and several other amenities, are expected to take several millions of dollars.
Construction is set to begin on the five-story building later this year, and tenants could start getting ready in 2019.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
