Some local businesses near the north suburban headquarters of Motorola Mobility are already bracing for the tech company’s big move to downtown Chicago next year.

About 3,000 employees fill the Motorola campus in Libertyville on any given weekday. Close by, Mark Furman at Elite Motors said so many people leave the campus around 5:00 p.m., sometimes the police have to control traffic.

That means a lot of potential customers.

“It wasn’t a huge chunk, but definitely something that, you know, we definitely appreciate their business,” he said Friday, a day after the company announced the move.

But those employees won’t be driving by his lot next year when Motorola moves its offices to the Merchandise Mart.

Still, Furman hopes they stay loyal to the area. So does Cheryl Swanson, a local realtor. She said once Motorola moves, she expects employees to move with it.

That might mean more business for her in the short term, but she worries who will take their place.

“You’re going to have people moving out,” she said, “But how do you get people moving in?”

Swanson said it’s important to get other companies to fill the big corporate campus, so Libertyville and the surrounding area don’t become a ghost town.