Mondelez Makes Move From Deerfield To Fulton Market

DEERFIELD, IL — Mondelez International has become the latest business to announce plans to move its global headquarters out of Deerfield and into downtown Chicago. The snack maker intends to move all 330 corporate employees currently working at its 53,000-square-foot offices at 3 Parkway North to the Chicago's trendy Fulton Market neighborhood in April 2020. The producer of Nabisco, Oreo, Ritz, Trident and Triscut announced it has signed a 15-year lease for an under-construction building at 905 W. Fulton Market in a deal first reported by the Chicago Tribune Monday.

Dirk Van de Put, who took over last year as Mondelez chief from longtime CEO Irene Rosenfeld, said in a statement company was "privileged" to be part of a developing scene with a reputation for world-class food, the Tribune reported.

“We sought a location that reflects our new, dynamic and more consumer-centric growth culture, and which will make existing and future colleagues proud to be working at the global headquarters of a $26 billion dollar global snacking leader,” Van de Put said in a release.

The packaged food giant will be the latest corporation to make its way into a historic meatpacking district, where top-rated restaurants and brand-new real estate have attracted such corporate clientele and Google and McDonald's.

A Mondelez spokesman said the West Loop move roots the company into "a city that represents the millennial vibe."

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office said 11 food and beverage firms have moved their headquarters to the city since he took office.

The site of Mondelez' future headquarters was purchased by New York-based developer Thor Equities and rezoned in 2016. The historic facades of two buildings in the 200 block of North Peoria Street that formerly housed the Chicago Butchers and Packing Company and dated back to 1894 and 1916 are being maintained as the site is turned into space zoned for office, restaurant and retail space, according to the general contractor on the project. Mondelez said it intends to have 400 employees at the site, as it also consolidates its contractors and employees from a Schiller Park-based subsidiary.

In 2017, Beam Suntory completed its relocation of its global headquarters into the Merchandise Mart. In June, Walgreens, which has gradually been shifting employees to its Chicago offices, announced plans to move more than 1,000 staffers into the Old Post Office building. Last September, pharmaceutical company Takeda said it would gradually vacate its headquarters about a ½ mile south of Mondelez's present headquarters.

Related:

• Walgreens Moving Over 1,000 Workers From Deerfield To Chicago
• Takeda To Close Deerfield Headquarters, Move 1,000 Jobs To Boston
• Deerfield's Mondelez Cuts Costs, Adds Snacks
• Mondelez CEO Irene Rosenfeld Stepping Down, Replacement Announced