AbbVie Eyes $380M Chicagoland Expansion
Two facilities will become fully operational in 2029.
AbbVie is about to begin a new $380 million expansion at its North Chicago, Ill., headquarters campus, consisting of two new active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facilities.
The new plants will combine advanced manufacturing technologies with artificial intelligence to support the production of the firm’s next-generation neuroscience and obesity medications.
Construction will begin this spring within AbbVie’s complex at 1401 Sheridan Road, some 38 miles north of downtown Chicago. Both facilities are expected to be fully operational by 2029.
AbbVie declined to provide additional information about the project, such as the sizes of the two buildings and their architects and general contractors.
This announcement followed the company’s $70 million expansion of its research center in Worcester, Mass., which broke ground last September. Completion is expected in 2027.
Both projects are part of AbbVie’s commitment to invest a total of $100 billion in its U.S. operations over 10 years and lower its drug prices under Medicaid, in exchange for tariff exemptions and other benefits.
Expanding in some ways, maybe not in others
A life science real estate report from JLL this past fall focused in large measure on the extent to which AI is becoming a crucial factor in the biotech sector. “By altering how science is conducted, and by whom, (AI) will impact the size and shape of demand well after this market cycle,” JLL wrote.
The use of AI involves an elevated focus on compute power, space for robots for automated tasks and sensors for smart labs. The rise of new technologies will drive mass reconsideration of planning
of legacy spaces, the report predicted.
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