Sarah Tew/CNET

CHICAGO -- Motorola Mobility held a belated housewarming party on Thursday, throwing open the doors to its inner sanctum of mobile-device development.

The headquarters, based in downtown Chicago's historic Merchandise Mart building, is very much a statement of the new Motorola. The company was previously based in Schaumburg, Ill., a suburb of Chicago, but moved over the last of its employees to the new facility in April. The splashes of color and open space are indicative of a more nimble company that shares a bit of heritage with Google.

It doesn't have much time left as a unit of Google. Motorola is slated to be taken over by Lenovo by the end of the year.

Rather than just hold a simple product launch, which it did do Thursday with the unveiling of the new Moto X and Moto G, Motorola opted to do a full-blown tour of the facility, offering a look at various labs and development facilities. From its 3D printers to mock-ups of the Moto 360 smartwatch, the company pulled back the curtain on its development process.