<p>AT&amp;T's former research complex in Hoffman Estates is now one step closer to becoming what its New Jersey-based owner describes as a "metroburb."</p><p>A ceremony was held Monday to tear down the last wall dividing the east and west portions of the project Bell Works Chicagoland — marking the first time the property's main building has been connected. The eastern portion of the more than 1.6 million-square-foot building has hit nearly 100% occupancy.</p><p>Bell Works Chicagoland, a <a class="Link" href="https://chicago.suntimes.com/2022/7/11/23199726/developers-revive-suburban-corporate-campuses-hoffman-estates-oak-brook-chicago-enterprise" >150-acre campus</a> once home to AT&amp;T until 2016, was purchased by Inspired by Somerset Development in 2019. Since then, the developer has worked to turn the corporate campus into a "metroburb," or self-contained town center.</p><p>“We did that so that we can crawl, walk and run, rather than redevelop the entire … space at once,” said Ralph Zucker, Inspired's president and CEO.