Astellas Bucks Trend, Plans $150M Complex

The company is now in Three Parkway and Six Parkway in Deerfield. "We've got people doubled up in offices, taking over conference rooms," said the spokeswoman. "Our business has been doing well, we've been growing since 2005. The economy has really worked in our favor. We considered leasing at first, but we decided it would be financially better for us." The land and the construction will cost about $150 million, she tells GlobeSt.com.

The two buildings will be finished in two years. Amenities of the property will include underground and covered parking, a teleconference room with a life-size screen for virtual meetings, and a planned hotel on adjacent land. The property also includes space for a third building if more growth occurs, that would bring the complex to 600,000 square feet.

Astellas is looking to certify the complex as LEED gold. Included in the sustainable development will be a hybrid geothermal field that will reduce energy costs more than 20%, using the ground as a heat source in the winter and a heat sink in the summer, according to a company statement.

GlenStar Properties LLC is the developer, Goettsch Partners is the architect and MB Real Estate is the project manager for the construction. Andy Davidson with MB tells GlobeSt.com that the only development going on in the Chicago suburbs is in the north, where pharmaceutical and non-profit firms are clustered. "There's just no financing for any kind of speculative development, or even much build-to-suit," he says. "The amount of equity required is heavy, and as a result the rental rates required on a development like this get very expensive."

However, a company that has cash is in a good position to find land and build, especially with construction costs down up to 20% from the peak of summer 2008, says David Graff with MB. "You're just getting a lot more for the money than you were two years ago. It was getting so that prices were going an average of 10% per year in the mid-2000s, but that's really cratered. Everything is competitive now, from furniture to cabling. We were able to do this beautiful glass building for what a pre-cast building would have cost two years ago."

The LEED costs have also come down, making environmentally-friendly buildings easily affordable, Graff tells GlobeSt.com. Where sustainable costs had added about 6% more to the cost of construction, now it's only about 1% to 2% extra, he says. "We had started this project to try to get LEED certified, and now we're able to achieve LEED gold. It's become more affordable, the contracting world has become more attuned to sustainable development. Also, the mystery is gone. It's still extra work, but it's no longer Mount Everest," Graff says.