Construction Firm Moves HQ to Chicago

CHICAGO-Swayed by its location and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's push for public-private partnership projects, Clayco Inc. is moving its corporate headquarters from St. Louis to the Windy City.

The construction company currently employs approximately 1,000 workers, with 280 employees in its Chicago office and in the field. Clayco expects to nearly double its Chicago workforce in the next few years by adding new architects, designers and project managers; expanding its concrete and infrastructure business in Illinois; and continuing growth through acquisition, the company stated. The new headquarters will be located in more than 30,000 sf on the 13th and 27th floors at the 35 E. Wacker building, known as the Jewelers Building. The company has relocated all of its Oakbrook Terrace employees downtown but plans to keep its St. Louis office intact. Accounting and IT departments will remain in the St. Louis office and no layoffs will occur as part of the move, company officials add.

The 28-year-old company has annual revenues of more than $820 million. Subsidiaries include a full-service architecture and design firm, Forum Studio, and Concrete Strategies Inc.

“Clayco is embarking on an exciting period in our company's history. With a record backlog of projects, and increasing travel around the country and the globe, we see Chicago as an integral part of our expansion strategy as we add talent and build Clayco into the nation's leading full-service real estate development, architecture, engineering and construction firm,” Clark says.

“Clayco is exactly the sort of company we are looking to attract to Chicago,” said Mayor Emanuel. “I am committed to bringing new and technologically advanced businesses to Chicago, especially those that want to grow and expand their businesses, and Clayco is exactly this sort of firm. I look forward to working with them as they make Chicago their new home.”

Among Clayco's clients include: Dow Chemical Company, Amazon, Caterpillar, Proctor and Gamble, 3M, and Chevron along with government buildings, manufacturing spaces, healthcare and educational buildings. In the Chicago area, University of Illinois, Kraft Foods and Blue Cross Blue Shield are among the its clients.