More Businesses Moving Back To City

Motorola Solutions CEO Greg Brown is ditching the suburbs and is lobbying other companies to do the same.  In an interview with Crain’s Chicago Business recently he detailed plans to create as many as 400 new jobs by the end of 2012.  While the newly spun off company has existing space in Illinois Center, there’s not nearly enough space to accommodate everyone there.  He said that the new location would likely be downtown or in the O’Hare area, which follows a trend we covered lasts month: https://byobroker.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/new-trend-of-businesses-moving-back-to-the-city/

While he says he was influenced by Mayor Emanuel to move back to the city, he follows the lead of other tech firms like Groupon and Google that recognize that talented younger workers prefer to live and work in the city, avoiding suburban commutes.  Mayor Emanuel recently named Brown to the board of World Business Chicago, the economic development agency for the city, and he has been out proselytizing other CEOs to follow his lead.   See the full article here: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20110920/NEWS08/110919878/motorola-hunting-for-office-space-in-chicago

New trend of businesses moving back to the city?

Bucking a trend that started in the 70’s and peaked in the 80’s and 90’s, businesses are starting to abandon the suburbs and move back to Chicago.  Long viewed as an opportunity to reduce operating costs and get more space, companies like Sears Holdings and Sara Lee moved their headquarters out of the city and into massive suburban complexes.  In a surprising about-face, Sara Lee is now considering moving back.  If it happens, they would join other big names like BP, United Airlines, Willis Group, and possibly Barilla and Acco Brands.  Growing firms like Groupon and Google have decided to stay in the city in order to draw from the large engineering and advertising talent pool.   

This shift is partly a result of changing demographics, with people waiting longer to get married and move to the suburbs, and also increased vacancy in buildings downtown, which currently stands at 18%, or 24 million square feet.  Read more about this here.