OnStar designer 'exploring options' for suburban building
(Crain's) — A giant German auto supplier is looking to unload some or all of an engineering facility in the northwest suburbs where electronic devices like OnStar are designed, a 346,000-square-foot building that the company inherited three years ago as part of a $1-billion deal with Motorola Inc.
Continental Corp. plans to the cut the workforce to 500 employees by the end of 2010 from 720 employees now at 21440 W. Lake Cook Road in Deer Park, a spokeswoman says. Hanover, Germany-based Continental has owned the seven-story building since 2006, when it acquired Motorola's automotive unit. Three years ago, about 800 people worked there.
Continental has hired real estate firm Rosemont real estate firm Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler Inc. to market the space for lease, but the Continental spokeswoman says the company could sell the facility.
"We're exploring a number of options," she says.
The marketing effort comes as 28.3% of the top-quality, Class A office space is available for lease in the northwest suburbs, the highest of any submarket in the Chicago area, according to tenant rep firm Studley Inc. And many tenants seem content to bide their time.
"There are a lot of big users sitting on the sidelines, waiting to take advantage of an opportunity like this," says Kevin McLennan, senior managing director in Studley's Chicago office.
Built earlier in this decade by Motorola, the building has 277,200 square feet of office space and parking for 1,280 cars in an adjacent garage and lot. It includes a cafeteria and fitness center, which helps boost the total space to about 346,000 square feet.
Continental currently is offering the first four floors, with the top three available in August 2010, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group Inc.
If another company steps up to take the entire building, Continental would move its employees to another Chicago-area office building, the spokeswoman says. The company also has a research facility in Northbrook.
The Deer Park building is the headquarters for the Continental's Infotainment and Connectivity unit, which designs electronic devices like the OnStar communication system and BMW Assist. It also houses engineers for the company's powertrain unit.
