A Deerfield corporate office expansion could bring nearly 1,000 new jobs to Lake County in what could be the biggest office lease deal of the year in the Chicago area.
Fortune Brands recently announced it will consolidate its U.S offices into one headquarters, taking over two of three office buildings previously owned by Horizon Therapeutics, then Amgen Inc., at the northwest corner of Lake Cook Road and Interstate 94.
While Fortune Brands may not be a name familiar to most, Lake County Partners President Kevin Considine said they own plenty of brands people may be more familiar with, including Master Lock, Moen Faucets and SentrySafe, among others.
Considine said the Fortune 500 company has been headquartered in Deerfield for well over a decade with about 130 employees, a number that will increase dramatically in the next few years as it makes its move “literally” down the road from its current location.
The move was supported by an Illinois’ Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) tax credit, a state incentive for companies that create new jobs. As part of the EDGE tax credit, Fortune has committed to creating at least 400 new jobs, while retaining the 128 existing full-time positions.
According to Fortune Brands CEO Nicholas Fink, the new headquarters will have the capacity for more than 1,000 associates by the end of 2027. He praised Illinois for having the “strongest professional labor force” in the country, its “deep talent pool” and “competitive incentives package.”
Considine said the consolidation will “easily” be the biggest office lease deal in the Chicago area in 2025. When the headquarters grows to the full 1,000 employees, it could make the company one of the top 15 employers in Lake County, he said.
In a company news release, Fortune explained it was consolidating its offices into a single campus to “best position the company and its brands for long-term growth,” emphasizing a “collaborative office environment” that will drive innovation.
According to the release, the company’s digital-focused office in San Francisco, along with its U.S. manufacturing facilities, U.S. distribution centers, sales offices and international sites, will continue operations as usual.
“We have a huge opportunity ahead of us,” Fink said. “Bringing together associates from across all our brands and functions into one state-of-the-art campus will help us to bring innovations and products to life faster, while also making the organization more efficient and aligned.”
The company was “fortunate” to find the former Horizon Therapeutics campus, Fink said, which Considine described as a case of good timing. Amgen was consolidating its own offices into a single building on the campus, opening up a “really prime, Class A office space,” Considine said.
Lake County is “the perfect place” for companies to grow, he argued, especially for Fortune because it is centrally located, near O’Hare International Airport and features “great communities” for employees.
“It’s a great endorsement of Lake County, and frankly the Chicagoland region, when you’ve got premier locations in our communities and great, Class A space that’s still in demand,” Considine said.
The move will be a positive bump for Lake County as potentially hundreds of new people relocate into the area, meaning additional traffic to area businesses and proof to other companies that the county is the place to grow. After all, Lake County has one of the highest concentrations of Fortune 500 companies in the Midwest, Considine said.
While the conversation around office space has been about the drop in demand since the pandemic, and Lake County has certainly seen that with several former office buildings in Deerfield, and other villages being redeveloped into residential, commercial and entertainment projects, Considine said that’s not necessarily the case for the higher-end offices.
“While that’s true in certain situations, that’s not true here,” he said.
Deerfield Mayor Daniel Shapiro said he was “excited” to see Fortune expand its footprint in Deerfield, and looks forward to its continued growth in the village.
Gov. JB Pritzker called the move a “testament” to Illinois’ workforce, business ecosystem and “culture of innovation.” With the help of the EDGE program, Fortune’s investment will generate new jobs and “further solidify Illinois as the premier state to live, work and do business,” he said.