Bell Labs Sites Reimagined As Suburban Mixed-Use Hubs

Once the beating heart of American innovation, sprawling former Bell Labs campuses in New Jersey and Illinois anchor ground zero testing grounds for a new variation on a trendy urban theme, converting office towers to residential.

Unlike the empty office towers in Manhattan or D.C. being repurposed for residential use, these iconic research hubs — once home to Nobel Prize-winning scientists — have been transformed into “metro burbs” that blend work, living, and leisure in the suburbs.

These projects have attracted national homebuilders and fueled a suburban renaissance by creating dynamic spaces where people can live, work, and play, all inspired by the spirit of Bell Labs’ storied innovation hubs.

Rather than demolishing them, a mixed-use development firm, Inspired by Somerset Development, has gone to great lengths to preserve them while renovating the interiors for modern use. This creates town centers that magnetically attract residential development in their immediate environs.

By preserving these former corporate campuses, the developer is piloting a use case for widening applications of how old buildings can be repurposed to give suburban locations an urban flair.

Reviving a Famed Architect’s Work

Finnish architect Eero Saarinen, whose projects include The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, designed the Bell Labs campus in Holmdel, NJ, 43 miles from Manhattan. National Register of Historic Places

Completed in 1962, the campus became the nerve center for breakthroughs such as the transistor, microwave oven, and the confirmation of the Big Bang theory. In its heyday, the campus employed 6,000 people.

By the early 2000s, shifting corporate priorities led to its decline and eventual vacancy, prompting concerns about the fate of this architectural and scientific landmark. The office building sat vacant for years and was in danger of demolition.

Given the costs of retrofitting the existing building, we recommend that the existing structure be demolished at the current property owner’s expense if the property is to be conveyed to the Township,” the consultant wrote in a 2009 report.

The consultant recommended replacing the old buildings with new ground-up development.

Somerset saw an opportunity where the consultant mentioned above saw obsolescence.

After five years of trying, Somerset acquired the two-million-square-foot office building on 472 acres in 2013, transforming into "Bell Works"—a self-contained, walkable urban-style town center.

Architect Magazine noted an observer’s view that Zucker had to make a Faustian bargain to move the project forward.

To help finance redevelopment, Somerset sold off acreage to Toll Brothers, which built 225 homes – 185 carriage units age-restricted for buyers 55 and older, and 40 large single-family lot homes.

We wanted to do more,” says Ralph Zucker, CEO of Somerset. “We didn't like the age restriction. We didn't want to do large lot singles. We wanted to do more town homes, but Holmdel was not ready for it then.”

Zucker originally proposed a dense urban form of housing, including villas, similar to those found in New York City’s neighborhoods.

Holmdel residents weren’t keen on the idea, so Zucker settled on what he could get.

The redevelopment preserved the iconic mirrored-glass structure, restoring its soaring atrium and creating a public promenade lined with retail, dining, offices, wellness centers, and even a library, all under one roof. 

Today, Bell Works New Jersey’s 1.2 million square feet of office space is 98% leased and has garnered multiple awards for adaptive reuse, including an AIA New York State award for adaptive reuse and preservation. In 2017, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Hoffman Estates: The Next Metroburb

In deep suburban Chicago, the former AT&T research campus with 1.65 million square feet of office space on 150 acres stood vacant after AT&T's departure in 2016. Somerset acquired the property in 2019, unveiling plans for Bell Works Chicagoland.

The campus was built in 1990. Somerset brought back the original designer, Dirk Lohan, grandson of famed architect Mies van der Rohe, to oversee its transformation.

Somerset received a different reception in the Village of Hoffman Estates. Officials there wanted what had been done in New Jersey.

We said, OK, but we need to get 550 residential units, and they said, OK, and I instantly regretted not asking for 1,000,” Zucker says.

In March, Pulte Homes broke ground on 164 luxury townhouses. Their relationship started with a luxury townhome project they are developing on a former Fort Monmouth, NJ military base.   

Somerset submitted plans a couple of months ago for 300 apartments, further integrating residential life into the campus ecosystem. 

The vision mirrors Holmdel’s: a dynamic, walkable hub featuring 1.2 million square feet of office space, 60,000 square feet of conference facilities and retail/dining, and a growing residential component. More than 400,000 square feet of the office space has been leased.

Creating a town center

Zucker says that they had considered converting space within the buildings to residential. However, the floorplates were too large.

We've looked at these things repeatedly but haven't found anything that works for us yet,” he says.

So, the residential has gone on open acreage around the commercial buildings.

Residential draws people to the area, but those residents aren’t the sole traffic for the repurposed buildings.

Commercial office tenants drive some of the retail. However, most of the traffic comes from the surrounding area.

In Bell Works, New Jersey, we have successfully become the town square, not just for Homdel, but for our entire surrounding area,” Zucker says.

In addition to events, Bell Works New Jersey hosts a farmers market throughout most of the year.

People come from 20-30 minutes away by car, sit, walk, hang out, do their homework after school, prepare their doctorates, walk their dogs, and get a drink. It's happening in Chicagoland.”

Blueprint for the Future

Urban dwellers raced to the suburbs during the pandemic. Hybrid and remote work models have allowed them to stay, so far.

When they went, however, they still wanted many of the same urban amenities, even if that meant driving to them elsewhere in the suburbs instead of trekking into the city.

Developers have been trying with mostly ground-up greenfield development.  

Projects like Bell Works prove that innovation doesn’t have to fade with time. It can be reinvented through repurposed existing buildings to create vibrant hubs where people come together to work, live, and connect.