First Midwest to move HQ out of Itasca, to O'Hare corridor

First Midwest Bancorp Inc., parent of First Midwest Bank, said Tuesday that it will move its headquarters from Itasca to Chicago's O'Hare corridor by spring 2018.

The new 80,000-square-foot headquarters, at Triangle Plaza, 8750 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., will be home to more than 300 employees. The new office will consolidate about 200 workers from the Itasca headquarters and the rest from various offices.

"Our expanding presence across the region and optimism about future growth opportunities caused us to look for a more centralized location," said Michael L. Scudder, president and CEO of First Midwest Bancorp. "This new headquarters will offer greater accessibility and collaboration opportunities for our colleagues, allowing us to continue to retain and attract the best talent to serve our clients, while also providing flexibility to facilitate our corporate expansion strategies."

The move means that Itasca loses yet another major company. Gogo has moved and Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. is in the process of moving to Chicago. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics is constructing a new headquarters in Itasca and will move in soon.

"We hate to lose First Midwest, but I believe the space will be rented very easily, especially with the Elgin-O'Hare Expressway being completed up to Route 83. That will present some new opportunities for us and we won't have any trouble filling that space," said Village President Jeff Pruyn.

First Midwest executives looked at various suburbs from Oak Brook to Itasca and decided on Chicago without receiving any incentives from the city, county or state, said First Midwest spokesman James M. Roolf.

"We had an interest in this area of Chicago because of the location, especially the multiple interstates that will more easily reach all of the areas where we have branches," Roolf said.