Data center firm acquires former Sears headquarters

A Dallas-based data center firm will take over the former Sears Holding Corp. headquarters in Hoffman Estates, ending the retailer’s 30-year history with the village.

Compass Datacenters will most likely demolish and replace the massive structure, located on 197 acres at 3333 Beverly Road, with several data centers, high-tech facilities that provide the backbone for the internet and corporate IT operations. The firm closed on its purchase of the site Tuesday.

Hoffman Estates Village President Bill McLeod said it’s the perfect use for the obsolete campus near the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway, west of Illinois Route 59.

“The reality is, it’s 2.3 million-square-feet of office space, and what are you going to fill it with?” he said. “The odds of us getting another business in there is pretty remote, and data centers are unobtrusive, have very little traffic and provide good-paying jobs.”

Other suburbs, including Deerfield, have explored the possibility of replacing vacant…