Compass Datacenters: Compass will soon buy Sears' 2.4 million-square-foot Chicago facility

Compass Datacenters, which was recently taken over, is planning to purchase a former Sears office complex in Chicago, Illinois, presumably for a new data center campus. The data center constructor and operator are "poised" to acquire the Sears site in the Hoffman Estates neighborhood, as first reported by Crains. This would be the first Compass location in the Chicago region.

According to those close to the transaction, the company has purportedly signed a contract to purchase the 2.4 million square foot property in Cook County, which served as the department store chain's headquarters for over three decades. The price was not disclosed, but the campus was valued at $50 million in 2021, down from $150 million in 2013. 

According to a Colliers marketing brochure, the campus encompasses 274 acres, including a 125-acre site at 3333 Beverly Road, where the company's offices are located. There are seven interconnected office structures and 120 acres of undeveloped land on the property. As stated in the sales brochure, a nearby substation can expand to 68MW.

The Hoffman Estates headquarters of Sears, which grew into part of Transformco in 2019 after ESL Investments bought the struggling retailer, was placed up for sale in early 2022. The company, which filed for bankruptcy in 2018, had used the location as its headquarters since 1992 and had more than 4,000 employees there prior to Covid.