Area Development
Astellas, a Japan-based pharmaceutical company, is investing about $140 million to locate its headquarters for the Americas in Glenview, Illinois, an expansion that will create 150 new high-tech jobs.

The new headquarters at willow Road and Interstate 294 includes two seven-story buildings totaling 446,000 square feet. The buildings and site emphasize sustainability, and the complex is designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. The company's more than 1,000 employees recently relocated to the new headquarters, and the expansion includes the addition of 150 good paying, high-tech jobs.

"At Astellas, we measure success not only by bringing innovative pharmaceuticals to patients and physicians, but also by our commitment to the communities in which we work," said Masao Yoshida, President and CEO of Astellas Pharma US, Inc. "The new Astellas headquarters for the Americas is a symbol of the company's continued growth, and our close cooperation with the state of Illinois and Governor Quinn's office. The new buildings are a result of that collaboration and our confidence that Illinois is a good place to do business."

Governor Pat Quinn met with the corporation's leadership while on a trade mission last year to Japan and China. "We are committed to establishing Illinois as a leading hub of life sciences, and our work is paying off," Quinn said. "Illinois has some of the best research and intellectual capital in the world, and these assets help us attract and support the growth of high-potential companies like Astellas in Illinois."

As part of an incentive package to bolster the company's $140 million investment in Illinois, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is providing a strategic investment package of approximately $4 million in Economic Development for a Growing Economy corporate income tax credits and Employer Training Investment Program job training funds. ETIP credits will help Astellas enhance the skills of its workforce while EDGE credits are based and contingent on job creation. If the company does not meet its job creation targets and commitments, they will no longer be eligible for the tax credits.