The company will relocate its bakery business from St. Louis, packaged meats business from Cincinnati as well as beverage operations from Rolling Meadows to the East-West Corridor. The move begins this summer and is likely to continue into July 2006, Sara Lee officials say, adding 70 accounting, tax and shareholder services employees will remain Downtown. The company has offices at Three First National Plaza.

Sara Lee was the biggest tenant in the market in the city and suburbs, according to a recent report by Jones Lang LaSalle's James Philbin, topping Exelon Corp. and Seyfarth & Shaw LLC. The latter has decided to move from 55 E. Monroe St. to Bank One Corporate Center.

"The facility in Downers Grove is a great opportunity that not only meets our space needs, but also offers Sara Lee the ability to create a workplace consistent with our new evolving culture and serve us well in attracting and retaining best-in-class talent," says Sara Lee Corp. president and chief executive officer Brenda C. Barnes.