Caterpillar announced Wednesday that its new global headquarters will be located in the northern Chicago suburbs.
The new headquarters building is in Deerfield, according to a news release from the construction company giant.
“Following a thorough site selection process, we chose this location because it is approximately a 20-minute drive to O’Hare airport and convenient to the city of Chicago via commuter train, achieving our goal to be more accessible to our global customers, dealers and employees,” said Caterpillar CEO Jim Umpleby in a statement. “This site gives our employees many options to live in either an urban or suburban environment. We know we have to compete for the best talent to grow our company, and this location will appeal to our diverse, global team, today and in the future.”
According to the news release, Caterpillar reached a multi-year leasing agreement with Corporate 500 office park. The company expects about 100 employees to relocate this year, with about 300 people in the new headquarters when fully operational in mid-2018.
“We are pleased that Caterpillar selected our community as the location for its new global headquarters,” Harriet Rosenthal, mayor of Deerfield, said in a statement. “Caterpillar joins several other well-known national and international companies who enjoy the amenities and ease of access to transportation that Deerfield has to offer.”
Caterpillar announced the closing of its facility near Aurora last month—along with plans to lay off 800 workers, the Associated Press reported.
Caterpillar spokeswoman Lisa Miller said at the time the large wheel loaders and compactor production will be moved to the company's Decatur, Illinois, plant. Its medium wheel loader production line will be moved to the North Little Rock, Arkansas, plant.
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“The transition from Peoria to the new global headquarters will begin later this year. As we’ve previously indicated, the vast majority of our employees currently in the Peoria area will not be relocating to our new headquarters,” said Umpleby. “With our strong presence of over 12,000 employees in central Illinois, we’ll continue our philanthropic support and civic involvement.”
Caterpillar in January reported a fourth-quarter loss of $1.17 billion on revenue of about $9.6 billion.
