That’s the title of a special report in this week’s Crain’s Chicago Business (subscription required). Here’s how the Crain’s special report begins:
Like the disco ball, the regional shopping mall and the McMansion, the suburban corporate headquarters campus is losing its charm.
Remote, sprawling and splendidly isolated, such headquarters epitomized corporate America in the last quarter of the 20th century. Fleeing urban decay, companies like Motorola Inc., Allstate Corp. and Sears Roebuck & Co. built fortress-like complexes on the fringes of metropolitan Chicago. Jobs and residential development followed, fueling sprawl and congestion across the region.
Today, Sears Holdings Corp. and AT&T Inc. are looking to escape their compounds in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates. A shrunken Motorola has space to let in Schaumburg. Sara Lee Corp. eyes downtown office space after less than a decade in Downers Grove. Companies from Groupon Inc. to GE Capital hire thousands in Chicago while their suburban counterparts shed workers.
Is a trend afoot in the city’s favor, or do the moves simply reflect the changing fortunes and particular needs of individual companies?