United To Relocate World HQ?

[UAL_TECH]

Rumor is that WHQ will move to SFO MOC to be closer to UALServices to ensure our success.

We have plenty of empty space in the old (outsourced) brake shop for them and they will be able to walk the floor and do a ‘Meet N’Greet’.

B) UT

 

[maddogdriver]

Elk Grove will always be a better location than Houston because it's located near a real city......Chicago. Houston sucks.

 

[TheWatcher]

Elk Grove will always be a better location than Houston because it's located near a real city......Chicago. Houston sucks.

Watch your mouth, bad mouthing the city that has its thumb on the life blood of America ----- Oil

A UA/CO combination will provide the widebody lift CO is short on. A move to Houston would surely get UA/CO a lot of support

 

[Deleted by Moderator]

hmmm. Watcher is Bulscu

 

[TheWatcher]

hmmm. Watcher is Bulscu

Nah.......

Just wishful thinking on my part. CO is the hometown airline, throw as much business as possible thier way, when it suits me....and it suits me 90% of the time. A UA/CO marriage would be awesome, on paper and business wise. The details contain the devil. Star Alliance gets a lot of the long haul nonstop business here. Too bad for "us" CO isnt part of Star Alliance, a problem that would be solved with a UA marriage.

 

[DCT JVL]

Have you ever been to Elk Grove Village?

Yes, almost every day. That building is nothing to write home about either.

At least they finally updated the signage on the outside so it reflects the new livery and not the one from 1989!

 

[Deleted by Moderator]

Exactly....I totally agree.

I have always thought that it was an embarressment for a company the size of United Airlines.

 

[JungleClone]

UA's WHQ in Elk Grove Village reminds me of the office building in the movie "Office Space". Dull and drab on the outside, boring cubicle farm on the inside. I wonder if Glenn Tilton can do a passable Lumberg impression!

 

[US Express-PSA Agent]

Exactly right. SWA was trying to get Dallas to help lift Wright, in return they wouldn't move. USAir/AmWest did the same. Getting big-name corporate HQs to locate in your city is a big-time business, although I think auto manufacturing is the biggest draw (New Toyota, Mercedes, and BMW plants in the south).

350 people, and they want about 140K sq feet? That's 400 sq ft per person, and we're talking office space! I think my cube at WHQ is about 40-50 sq feet, and a director's office is about 200 sq ft (guess). 400 per person is a big place, or there are more plan in the works...

Good points. The mayor of Dallas told SWA to go ahead and move and that the city would not be bullied by them. It was just a ploy to get their way and it did'nt work. Way to go Dallas!

 

[casual rat]

Maybe they'll try to build a 'modern-day' Versailles...

 

[JungleClone]

I see that UA apparently has selected a site for 350 of its top executives and other management personnel. I'm curious if anyone knows what departments would be moving to the new location. Revenue Management? Schedule Planning? Finance?

 

[JAMAKE1]

No matter what the management team at UAL seems to do, there are always going to be critics. There were critics when UA rolled out p.s. service on Boeing 757's. There were critics when United introduced a new corporate livery on its fleet of 460 aircraft. Now there are critics about United's move into Chicago city. Personally, if I have to spend my time at WHQ for training or meetings, I'd much rather be downtown than in the 'burbs. And if it means significant tax incentives, etc., the cost of relocation will pay for itself in the long run. This management team, regardless of what armchair CEO's may think, is all about driving costs down, maximizing revenue, and improving operating margins. Personally, I am gratified to see the company moving in this direction, rather then reducing service to no-frills levels like NWA, AA, and US have done.

 

[Fly]

Chicago touchdown nearing for United

Deal would put airline in ex-Donnelley site

By Barbara Rose and Susan Diesenhouse
Tribune staff reporters

July 14, 2006

Declining to fly away, United Airlines is in final negotiations on a deal to move its world headquarters from the suburbs to the former R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. building at 77 W. Wacker Drive, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.

The deal would keep a high-profile employer and "Chicago's hometown airline" in the region. United had considered moving its 350 executives and top staff to Denver or San Francisco, also major hubs for the carrier, and its loss would have been a major blow in prestige and jobs.

Representatives for United and the City of Chicago declined to comment Thursday.

City and state officials made a full-court press to keep the carrier, which has been weighing its options in the downtown area for weeks.

Speculation had centered on several buildings within the proposed LaSalle Street redevelopment district, which appeared to be on a fast track to accommodate United's desire to move from its Elk Grove Township headquarters in the first quarter of next year.

Locating in a redevelopment district allows the city to sweeten United's deal with millions of dollars in tax increment financing. The former Donnelley headquarters is in an existing TIF district and would not require waiting for the LaSalle Street district to be approved.

United informed city officials that its budget for the headquarters relocation is between $15 million and $20 million, according to another source familiar with the negotiations.

The source said United's package could include between $5 million and $6 million in tax-increment financing. City and state officials also have been discussing capping jet-fuel taxes for United and other large users, a deal that could be worth several million dollars to United, the source said.

State officials would offer millions of dollars in corporate tax credits and job-training incentives, the source added. The tax credits are available under a program that reduces employers' tax liabilities using a formula based on the number of jobs created and retained and the jobs' salaries.

United would get naming rights to 77 W. Wacker, the source said. That may have been a factor in a choice that surprised some economic development officials who anticipated the financially strapped carrier would select a less pricey building.

Among the buildings eyed by United in the proposed LaSalle Street district are: 190 S. LaSalle, 115 S. LaSalle and 200 W. Madison St.

The move downtown represents a return for the airline's parent UAL Corp., which left the South Side for Elk Grove Township in 1961 to be near O'Hare International Airport. In 1999, UAL announced plans to build a new headquarters near O'Hare, saying it had outgrown its Elk Grove facilities. But it abandoned the plan a few years later amid deteriorating economic conditions.

The carrier's likely choice of 77 W. Wacker, a 14-year old, 50-story glass tower, "is a corporate-headquarters-quality building in every regard," said Mark Parrish, a senior vice president and leasing director for Grubb & Ellis Co., which is not involved in the deal.

"It has a strong presence on the skyline, an impressive lobby, it's architecturally significant and still one of the best buildings in the city," he said.

If United goes into the 946,000-square-foot tower in the popular West Wacker Drive area, the space it would occupy is primarily that vacated by Donnelley, an original anchor tenant that took up about 225,000 square feet . Average gross asking rents range from about $35 to $38 a square foot a year.

 

[boeing787]

Thank you FLY for that post guess that settles it...very nice building too. I've seen it on some booz cruzes before on the river

 

[JAMAKE1]

It's Officially...Official.

Press Release Source: United Airlines

United Airlines Picks Chicago for New Headquarters

Saturday July 15, 10:30 am ET

Illinois Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley Welcome Chicago's Hometown Airline

CHICAGO, July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA - News) today announced that it selected Chicago for its new headquarters, and will move about 350 management employees to downtown Chicago in early 2007. At the same time, United will consolidate several of its suburban facilities, generating cost savings and creating an Operations Center on its campus in Elk Grove Township

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"Today United strengthens our long relationship with our hometown, the city of Chicago, and with the state of Illinois," said Glenn F. Tilton, United chairman, president and CEO. "This move enables us to reduce our costs and drive efficiencies by consolidating facilities and bringing those who support the day-to-day operations together in one location, and it puts United's headquarters in the heart of the city's vibrant business district."

United's new corporate headquarters will be located at 77 W. Wacker Drive.

"United Airlines travels the world every day, but we are so happy it is going to continue calling Illinois home. Chicago has everything a world-class corporate headquarters could ever want -- the best and the brightest people, the ability to travel virtually anywhere and a great quality of life. We have worked very hard to create an attractive business environment that is bringing more new companies and helping to put more people to work," Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich said.

Under the agreement, United is receiving $5.25 million in tax increment financing from the city of Chicago and $1.35 million in grants from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for infrastructure improvements and job training. Additionally, both the city and the state will propose legislation to cap the jet fuel tax for the next five years.

"This brings approximately 350 jobs and the headquarters of a Fortune 100 company into our city," said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. "United's move is part of a powerful trend that has seen a number of major companies establish headquarters in downtown Chicago. This is a great day for United and for the city of Chicago."

About United

United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA - News) is the world's second largest airline operating more than 3,700 flights a day on United, United Express and Ted to more than 210 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United is also a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 842 destinations in 152 countries worldwide. United's 57,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.

United Airlines, Worldwide Press Office:
Days: 847.700.5538
Evenings/Weekends: 847.700.4088

Mayor Richard M. Daley's Press Office
312-744-3334

Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich's Press Office
Andrew Ross: 312-636-1747


Source: United Airlines