Navistar plans massive research center for former Lucent campus
Truck maker and defense contractor Navistar Inc. plans to overhaul the former Lucent Technologies campus in Lisle to include a massive research center with other features and start moving in by April.
The company aims to relocate its headquarters from Warrenville to Lisle to boost its suburban work force from about 1,500 to 4,000. This would include about 900 workers from out-of-state offices, according to documents and officials.
Navistar already has met with neighboring residents at least twice and attended a public hearing in Lisle on Sept. 16. The next public hearing will be Oct. 21.
Village officials could approve the plan as early as December, although working out details of a TIF district may take longer in separate meetings, a Lisle official said Friday.
"There were many questions (about the design) that were brought up and we'll need to review the transcript and documents further," said Tony Budzikowski, Lisle's community development director.
On Aug. 18, the Daily Herald revealed that Navistar would receive about $1.5 million in incentives from Lisle and the DuPage County Board's economic development committee if the company bought the former Lucent campus at 2600 Warrenville Road.
Alcatel-Lucent, the more recent transition of the telecommunications firm, put the 88-acre property up for sale in April 2008. It has been mostly vacant in the last two years after massive layoffs and cutbacks.
Still, no official word has been issued about any sale to Navistar.
Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley declined to provide details on Friday, but said the company is open to good opportunities during these tough economic times. "This is all part of the process," Wiley said.
The existing Lucent campus includes nine separate buildings interconnected with covered walkways and bridges. The Navistar proposal would demolish the two northeasternmost buildings. That quadrant then would be redeveloped with three buildings to serve as engineering and development divisions.
The area would then have the Advanced Technology Center of about 335,000 square feet. It would provide design, testing and engineering for product development.
A Design Lab would be about 20,000 square feet and showcase innovations and products. A Vehicle Preparation Center also would be about 25,000 square feet and include vehicles used in the testing functions and fuel storage.
"This facility will be utilized for research, design and product testing and development," a document said. "Future technological advances will be created in this facility."
The other seven original buildings would be renovated. Features would include a fitness center with a basketball and squash courts and a day care center, along with offices and parking.
However, Navistar and Lisle officials could not say how much Navistar intends to invest in the upgrades or how much impact it would have on the local economy, especially if more employees relocated to the suburbs.
In addition, Navistar requested that the name of Lucent Lane within the campus be changed to Navistar Way,
"Navistar intends to upgrade and improve this property so as to create a high quality campus commensurate with an international headquarters," one document said.