The Chicago Economy Thread: News and Commentary

[spyguy]

http://mystateline.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=155735

Biotech Firm Moves To Chicago, Eyes Expansion
Thursday, April 22 2010

A biotech company is kicking into high gear after the passage of healthcare reform.

Therapeutic Proteins is relocating its 40 employees from Deerfield to a 13-thousand square foot facility at University Technology Park soon, but has the option of expanding to 40-thousand square feet there.
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http://www.prweb.com/releases/Sword/...web3927284.htm

Life Sciences Company Sword Diagnostics Moves Operations to Chicago
April 26, 2010

Sword Diagnostics, Inc., committed to improving healthcare through the use of innovative detection technology, today announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters and research facilities to accommodate planned growth. Double the size of its current space in the suburbs, Sword’s new location at University Technology Park at IIT (UTP) in Chicago marks its shift from start-up venture to growth-stage commercial entity.

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by spyguy

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Sword/...web3927284.htm

Life Sciences Company Sword Diagnostics Moves Operations to Chicago
April 26, 2010

Sword Diagnostics, Inc., committed to improving healthcare through the use of innovative detection technology, today announced the relocation of its corporate headquarters and research facilities to accommodate planned growth. Double the size of its current space in the suburbs, Sword’s new location at University Technology Park at IIT (UTP) in Chicago marks its shift from start-up venture to growth-stage commercial entity.

^ From this article:

"This is an important milestone for our company,” said Sword Diagnostics President Dave Dingott. "Our new facility at UTP not only offers more space, better working conditions for the team and access to university resources, but moving from suburban Chicago into the city also improves Sword’s ability to attract top talent with its metropolitan location – all key factors in our continued growth.

^ Everybody keeps saying this. Amidst all the bad news (housing deflation, population stagnation, corruption), there has got to be something to this. Either these are pioneers heralding a larger trend to come, or they are mere blips on the radar. We'll see...

[spyguy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...ons_Commercial

Japanese Firm Makes a Mark in Chicago
By MAURA WEBBER SADOVI

Construction crews will begin excavating a site overlooking Interstate 294 in Chicago's north suburbs next month to prepare for an unusual event in this ailing commercial real estate market: a new office building.

Astellas Pharma Inc., a Japanese pharmaceutical company, will break ground on a $150 million two-building campus that will be the new headquarters for North American and South American operations. GlenStar Properties of Chicago, which sold Astellas the land, has remained the building's developer.
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[CHIsentinel]

^Here's what appears to be a clearer rendering from that same article:

[The Urban Politician]

^ What's up with Japanese pharmaceuticals and their twin glass suburban buildings?

Anyhow, I'm not sure if I'm really excited about the ho hum churning of suburban tenants. How about moving downtown? Now that would pique my interest..

[Urbanight]

^ The economy of the metro area is what really matters. In additional to its employees, a company like that needs a whole lot of professional service firms - most of which are probably located downtown.

[bnk]

Good point Urbanight we need to look at ourself as one region and not city vs suburbs. Lots of bright minds have been saying this for years.

http://www.mayorscaucus.org/

...

Several years ago, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley recognized the need for a new spirit of cooperation between the Chicago area's municipalities. His vision was to unite Mayors from the six-county region in a common cause — to push beyond the boundaries of local interests in order to serve the greater interests of us all.

...


Mayor Daley

The 273 Mayors who make up the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus understand that Chicago and its surrounding municipalities have much in common. We know that the metropolitan areas that work together will be the ones that succeed in the global economy of the 21st Century.

Since the Caucus was founded in 1997, we’ve achieved notable successes in the areas of economic development, electrical service reliability, workforce development, affordable housing, infrastructure, the environment and emergency preparedness. In seeking new industries, we try to compete against other regions and other countries, not against each other. On many area-wide issues, we now speak with a unified voice in the legislative chambers in Springfield and Washington. We expect to achieve even more in the future — working through the Caucus toward the common vision of a better quality of life for all of us who live and work in the metropolitan Chicago region.

I myself find Astellas Pharma Inc. an awesome addition to Chicagoland.

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by bnk

I myself find Astellas Pharma Inc. an awesome addition to Chicagoland.

^ But that's my whole point.

Astellas is not an addition to Chicagoland.

It was already here. It just moved from one suburb to another--no net gain.

On another note, have you guys noticed that it is being called a "two building campus" but the second rendering in that article depicts 3 buildings? Just thought I'd point that out..

[spyguy]

Originally Posted by The Urban Politician

It was already here. It just moved from one suburb to another--no net gain.

But didn't you make that same argument in the Streeterville thread regarding Children's Memorial?

Not only is Astellas making a big investment and commitment to Chicago, but they seem to be expanding. Around the middle of the last decade when they were deciding whether the HQ should be here or in NJ, the IL incentives package was credited with creating or saving around 400 jobs. Then when Crain's first mentioned this new building 2 years ago, they had around 300k square feet in Deerfield with 600 employees and were looking for space to grow. Now the latest plan is for 425k square feet for 1000+ employees with the chance to expand a further 200k sq. ft. in that third building you mentioned.

Just to show that future expansion is possible, I believe phase II/ building III for Takeda is either under construction or complete. Anyone ever go by there and know for sure?

[CHIsentinel]

Spyguy, I just passed by the takeda site today and phase III is topped out, possibly doing interiors now. Also passed the astrellas site, just north of Allstate headquarters along 294. Contrary to tups' complaining, that area is also vital to the economic wellbeing of the whole metro area, so it's frankly quite awesome to see development there in addition to the city proper.

[The Urban Politician]

Originally Posted by spyguy

But didn't you make that same argument in the Streeterville thread regarding Children's Memorial?

^ I treat that differently, because we're talking about jobs moving downtown.

Yes, it's still a churn, but I generally view a move downtown as particularly benificial by encouraging more people to live in the city, use mass transit, etc

[The Urban Politician]

Caterpillar bringing back 9,000 laid-off workers worldwide
By: John Pletz April 30, 2010

(Crain's) — Exports of heavy equipment to Asia and Latin America are putting employees back to work at Caterpillar Inc. factories in Illinois.
By the end of the year, the heavy-equipment maker expects to rehire 9,000 of the 19,000 workers who were laid off worldwide during the worst of the recession, CEO James W. Owens said.
The number of workers being recalled “could go higher,” he told Crain’s during an interview this week at a U.S.-Saudi Arabia business summit in Chicago. "We hope it will."
One-third of the rehires will be in the United States; the bulk of those 3,000 workers will be in Illinois, where Peoria-based Caterpillar has several large plants.

[The Urban Politician]

CME Group posted its highest quarterly profit since 2008 and record daily trade volume of 11.5 million contracts, according to its most recent earnings report.

CME Group's profits soar; financial reform promises more business

BY CATHERINE NGAI
APRIL 29, 2010


In the midst of Washington's debate over financial reform legislation that could substantially benefit CME Group Inc., the Chicago-based exchange operator posted its highest quarterly profit since 2008, beating Wall Street’s expectations by 2 cents per diluted share.

The company, which is the world’s largest derivative exchange, posted a net income of $240.2 million or $3.62 per diluted share in the first quarter, up 21 percent from $199 million, or $3 per diluted share, in 2009.

Revenue increased 7 percent to $693 million from $647 million, thanks to increased trade volume and partnerships with international markets. The biggest revenue source, clearing and transaction fees, rose 9.5 percent to $578 million.

“CME Group’s discipline and focus helped deliver a strong quarter, and we see ongoing opportunities domestically and internationally to improve on this performance,” said Terry Duffy, CME Group executive chairman, in a press release.

Analysts were pleased with the showing and predicted that the CME would emerge a beneficiary of financial reform provided the bill is passed.

“At the end of the day, I think CME will be a winner in the financial services reform, on a relative sense, compared to other financials,” said Christopher Allen, exchange analyst at Ticonderoga Securities LLC in New York. “This is barring the reformations don’t go overboard.”

If the reform legislation is passed, the benefit to CME Group and other derivatives exchanges will be the movement of the $450 trillion market in over-the-counter derivatives into the exchanges' clearinghouses. It's contended that controlled supervision by the clearinghouses will reduce risk. Over-the-counter derivatives, such as credit default swaps, a form of insurance against failures of bonds and other debt instruments, are widely seen as major causes of the financial meltdown.

A large part of CME's increased volume came from Brazil, India, Japan and Mexico. In a conference call, CEO Craig Donohue said the CME is "expanding our core businesses, and building deep liquidity in our products 24 hours a day."

The exchange posted record trade volumes, up 12 percent, with an average daily volume of 11.5 million contracts.

The results included $6 million in non-operating income from the recovery on a bankruptcy claim and a $6 million reduction in tax reserves, offset by $10 million in professional fees related to a joint venture with Dow Jones.

“I think there’s a pretty bright outlook for the CME, given the leverage for a better interest-rate environment over the next one to three years,” Allen said.

CME already clears some OTC transactions, though in the first quarter contract volume traded at CME ClearPort, the clearinghouse established in 2002, fell approximately 20 percent from the same quarter last year.

“The outlook here remains quick favorable,” said Daniel Fannon, research analyst at Jeffries and Co. “Generally speaking, the CME is in a good position to benefit from the greater transparency that’s being set within the OTC market. It’s a natural fit for some of these products changing into a new format.”

The stock closed at $331.50 Thursday, up $1.19 or 0.31 percent.

[The Urban Politician]

As of October 2010, downtown Chicago will have nearly 3,000 new employees.



Source: Continental, United vote to combine
May 2, 2010 5:56 PM

United and Continental Airlines are expected to announce Monday morning that they are combining operations to form the world's largest airline after their boards voted to approve the deal this afternoon, sources said.

The deal is the culmination of a lengthy search by United CEO Glenn Tilton for a partner that would bolster his carrier's global network and that would promote consolidation in a badly fragmented industry plagued by chronic losses.

Continental CEO Jeff Smisek will be named CEO of the new carrier, while Tilton will move to its board as non-executive chairman for a two-year term, said a person familiar with the deal.

The new airline, to be named United, will retain its world headquarters at 77 W. Wacker Dr. in Chicago, where United currently employs about 700 people, sources said.

Its operations center will be based in Chicago's Willis Tower, which was formerly known as the Sears Tower. The carrier will move forward with plans to place its crucial nerve center and 2,800 staffers in the skyscraper starting in October, sources said.

Unlike the earlier merger that United had contemplated with US Airways, this deal isn't expected to involve large-scale cuts since United's and Continental's networks have little overlap. The carriers expect to continue serving the 370 cities where United or Continental currently fly.

Rather, executives hope that linking Continental's strong Latin American and Europe routes to United's connections in Asia will generate a surge of new international traffic and revenues.

They expect the new carrier to generate cost and revenue synergies of about $1.2 billion, with between $800 million and $900 million of that gain resulting from the greater scope of operations, said a person familiar with the deal. Executives expect to save $200 million to $300 million by reducing overhead and overlapping administrative functions.

However, the carrier is expected to retain a significant presence in Houston, where Continental is headquartered, sources said. City and government leaders had petitioned executives at Continental and United to consider placing headquarters for the combined carrier in the southern Texas metropolis.

Houston will become the largest hub for the new carrier, bypassing United's longstanding fortress hub at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, a source said.

As anticipated, Continental shareholders will receive 1.05 shares of United's stock in the all-stock deal, which will be structured as a merger of equals. As a result, United will control 55 percent of the company to Continental's 45 percent, a source said.

The new airline will be governed by a 16-person board, which will include two union representatives and six independent directors, a source said.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

^ Do you know where United's current 'nerve center' is?

[The Urban Politician]

^ I think they are still in Elk Grove Village

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by Ch.G, Ch.G

^ Do you know where United's current 'nerve center' is?

Here.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Thanks guys. Wow, so this is a pretty big deal. I mean, 2800 new workers in the central business district? That's quite an infusion.

[Urbanight]

^ I think I read somewhere it is the largest single infusion into Chicago ever.

It will be interesting to see how the businesses around the Willis Tower change to accommodate an additional 2,800 workers.

[The Urban Politician]

Car parts maker Omron steers 250 jobs to St. Charles
By: H. Lee Murphy May 06, 2010

(Crain's) — The strong Canadian dollar is bringing jobs to St. Charles.
One of the biggest employers in the far west suburb, Japanese-owned Omron Automotive Electrics Inc., is shutting down an assembly plant near Toronto and moving production — mostly switches for power seats and windows for Ford and General Motors cars — to its St. Charles plant. The move will add close to 250 jobs by yearend to the 300 workers already employed there, officials said.