Make a Deal Driven by a city with clout, Illinois economy surges on professional services and goods movement. by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns bounce@conway.com

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hen Mittal Steel chose to put its 212-person global headquarters in Chicago in 2005, its leading reason was the degree of professional services available in the city. And even though the project was just a two-story lease at the new 40-story 1 South Dearborn St. building, the city came through with its own services in the form of $2 million from the Central Loop Tax Increment Financing District to help pay for furniture, fixtures and equipment for the new offices.
   Real estate service provider Grubb & Ellis also decided to return to the city, announcing in January 2006 that it would move its corporate headquarters from suburban Northbrook to three floors of Shorenstein's 500 W. Monroe building, uniting its 125 corporate staff and the 75 Chicago brokerage and management staff currently working out of two separate offices.
   "This move is part of our long-term growth strategy to position Grubb & Ellis as the leading global provider of real estate services and places us among other world-class corporations and financial institutions in Chicago's financial district," said Mark E. Rose, Grubb & Ellis CEO. But it's also part of a long-term strategy

Through agreements with BNSF, CN is doing its part to ease freight congestion in the Chicago metro.

to perform work for Shorenstein in leasing out the building: the service provider took over the leasing assignment on October 1 for Shorenstein, based in the same city — San Francisco — that saw Grubb & Ellis leave for Northbrook in 1997. Shorenstein still manages the property.
   Dealmaking is at the center of a major manufacturing consolidation in the state too, as Nestlé USA chose to move production to plants in Bloomington and Chicago suburb Itasca from three plants in St. Louis. That move will see $3.9 million in incentives from the state, as the company pledges to invest $10 million and add 90 jobs to the 314-person payroll in Itasca by 2015.
   Meanwhile, Chicago stalwart William Wrigley Jr. Co. is moving chewing gum production from its oldest building (1911) to an 11-year-old facility in suburban Yorkville, shuttering a 600-employee plant that at its peak in the 1960s employed nearly 1,700. However, the company's global R&D center in Chicago will be expanding because of the purchase of confectionery assets from Kraft Foods Global in mid-2005.
   As O'Hare expansion plans get closer to actual dirt turning every day and the Chicago metro's logistics challenges are met by increasingly potent outer-ring development, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley is going for a five-ring development: In January he announced his intention to explore the possibility of an Illinois-led regional team making a bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Venues for such an effort could range from South Bend, Ind., to Milwaukee, Wis., to the home of the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana.
   The ultimate deal could be just around the corner.