TreeHouse Foods to expand HQ in move to Oak Brook
(Crain's) — TreeHouse Foods Inc., a private-label food producer best known to many for once having Michelle Obama as a board member, is moving its headquarters to Oak Brook from nearby Westchester in a major expansion.
TreeHouse has leased 48,000 square feet at 2021 Spring Road, part of the Commerce Plaza office park in west suburban Oak Brook, and plans to move there by the end of this year.
The 11-year lease represents a 45% expansion of TreeHouse's current space, 33,000 square feet in two buildings at the Westbrook Corporate Center, says Karla Harmon, a vice-president with Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. who handles leasing at both complexes for Arden Realty Inc., a unit of General Electric Co.
Ms. Harmon wouldn't provide financial terms, but net asking rents at 2021 Spring Road are about $18 per square foot, according to CoStar Group Inc.
Separately, MetLife Bank leased 14,200 square feet at 2015 Spring Road, another building in the 555,500-square-foot Commerce Plaza. Ms. Harmon says the two deals bring the complex's occupancy rate to more than 84%.
TreeHouse will have contiguous space at 2021 Spring Road, occupying the seven-story building's fifth and sixth floors, both of which have been vacant for more 18 months, Ms. Harmon says.
The company, which went public in 2005 as a spinoff of Dean Foods Co., bulked up early this year when it acquired Manawa, Wis.-based Sturm Foods Inc. in a $665-million deal. In a conference call last month, TreeHouse CEO Sam K. Reed said the company remains on the prowl for more acquisitions.
“We are in great condition to pursue another round of strategic expansion opportunities,” Mr. Reed said, according to a transcript. “We can easily accommodate another $200-million plus-or-minus deal before year's end.”
Last fall, Mr. Reed told Crain's he was aiming to double sales in the next three years and that he had identified a dozen potential acquisition targets.
Premium content: CEO trading up to a fancier TreeHouse
TreeHouse will raise its profile with its move to 2021 Spring Road, where the firm has signage rights. Ms. Harmon says plans aren't yet finalized. A call to the company wasn't returned.
TreeHouse is a major producer of private-label pickles, soups, non-dairy creamer and other foods. The firm had $843.3 million in revenue through the first half of the year.
TreeHouse became more of a household name in 2007 when Ms. Obama left the company's board while her husband was campaigning for president. Her position had come under fire because Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is a major TreeHouse customer, and Mr. Obama as a candidate and as an Illinois senator had criticized Wal-Mart for its wages and benefits.
Bridgewater, N.J.-based MetLife Bank, a subsidiary of insurer MetLife Inc., is a new entrant to the region's office market. The firm, which specializes in home mortgages and savings accounts, is expanding, says a MetLife Bank spokesman who wasn't familiar with plans for the Oak Brook office. Chicago-based Jones Lang also represented MetLife Bank.
