United to sell Elk Grove Township building, move by fall 2010

UAL Corp.'s United Airlines and the city of Chicago Thursday finally made it official: United intends to sell its Elk Grove Township property and move those operations into Willis Tower in downtown Chicago starting in the fall 2010.

The struggling airline and Chicago officials held a news conference Thursday, but offered few new details about the incentives wooing the company away from the suburbs.

United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy declined to say how much United received in city tax incentives, grants and job training funds. The city's Department of Community Development spokeswoman Susan Massel also declined to discuss any promised funding, saying United still needs to go through the process to obtain the funding.

McCarthy also said it would cost the company about $50 million to $90 million to update the Elk Grove facility. So it would be more cost-effective to move the operations center to a more modern building.

"The Elk Grove facility was built in 1961 and isn't suitable for today's technology," McCarthy said. "The Willis Tower offers the infrastructure that we need."

The move uproots about 2,800 workers from the 55.9-acre Elk Grove Township campus. They handle the day-to-day operations and routes of planes worldwide.