Pizzuti to Develop Whirlpool’s $85M Corporate Office Campus in Michigan

September 13, 2010
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Whirlpool Corporation moves forward with its plan to address space needs and centralize employees in its hometown of Benton Harbor, Michigan, by selecting The Pizzuti Companies to serve as developer of a new $85 million corporate campus.

With workers at 15 owned and leased locations in the area, Whirlpool’s goal is to unite staff members under a three-campus umbrella that will include its existing Benton Harbor Administrative Center, the St. Joseph Technology Center and the new Main Street Benton Harbor Campus, the development of which will be spearheaded by Pizzuti. Benton Street will encompass three three-story structures designed to meet qualifications for LEED Gold certification.

“With more than 4,000 individuals in our current facilities, we have simply outgrown our current space,” Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool chairman and CEO, remarked in a press release. “This initiative is a good business decision as the new campus and related changes are expected to increase productivity and energy efficiency, and reduce operating costs.

Not only does Whirlpool expect the new Benton Street campus to facilitate company efficiencies, the home appliances manufacturer–along with Pizzuti and city officials–anticipates that the project will help advance the renaissance of Benton Harbor. The Southwest Michigan locale, a former industrial city sited approximately 90 miles east of Chicago, is awash in brownfield sites as it attempts to reinvent itself.

“The development of Whirlpool’s new campus is a component in the ongoing rebirth of Benton Harbor,” Joel S. Pizzuti, president and COO of Pizzuti, noted in a prepared statement. “We are confident that Whirlpool’s new campus will serve as an anchor to downtown Benton Harbor, to attract others to invest in revitalizing the area, to enhance the local tax base and to create new jobs along the way.” The city is also pinning its hopes of revival on the Golf Club at Harbor Shores, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Course that just opened its 18 holes to the public in August.