The equalized assessed value for the 1800 W. Central Rd. put the market value at more than $21 million before the recently-closed deal.

Franklin/JDI Central, LLC has acquired the property, and has hired Cushman &Wakefield to lease space in the buildings, which are being redeveloped for multi-tenant use. Doug Hayes of Cushman & Wakefield, who represented 3Com with Jim Estus, says a lease for more than 200,000 sf of office space could be signed soon.

"We've gotten a lot of activity so far from office users," Hayes tells GlobeSt.com.

New ownership includes Don Shoemaker of Franklin Partners, who was involved in a 1997 sale of the property. A nine-month marketing effort initially focused on users, but eventually shifted to investors, where there was a line of interested buyers. "They were the best and had the least amount of contingencies, because he had owned it before and was comfortable with the property," Hayes tells GlobeSt.com.

Despite the massive investment in the facility, 3Com moved its CommWorks Corp. staff to nearby Rolling Meadows last year.

The property consists of 225,000 sf of class-A office space, 240,000 sf of manufacturing space and 172,000 sf of warehouse space. Upgrades included air conditioning to the manufacturing space.

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