Little Caesars To Build New Headquarters Building In Detroit

By Edward Cardenas

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) - Little Caesars announced Wednesday that it will build a new, eight story headquarters building in downtown Detroit, next to the Fox Theatre.

The 205,000-square-foot Little Caesars Global Resource Center, which will be built on Woodward at Columbia, will nearly double company's headquarter campus in the city.

In addition to constructing a new headquarters building, the Ilitch organization will renovate the 186,000-square-foot Little Caesars Fox Office Center into a modern, flexible, open and collaborative workspace, according to company officials.

"Mike and Marian Ilitch, the founders and owners of Little Caesars Pizza, have always worked to provide the very best for our employees, our customers, our city and our state," said Christopher Ilitch, President and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, in a release. "This is another significant investment in our people, our company and our community."

The announcement of the new building comes 25 years after Little Caesars moved its headquarters from Farmington Hills into the restored Fox Theatre in Detroit.

During that time, Little Caesars has grown into the largest carryout-only pizza chain in the world with locations in all 50 states and 17 international markets, the company stated.

"We are excited to provide our employees, and the next generation of our employees, with new, expanded space to meet and interact, the most modern infrastructure and technologies, and world-class amenities," said David Scrivano, President and CEO of Little Caesars, in a release. "This state-of-the-art headquarters campus will create a collaborative workspace that helps us continue to attract, train and retain the top talent and franchisees we need to continue our explosive growth and better serve our customers around the world."

This will be the first new corporate headquarters to be built-in the city in nearly a decade, and only the seventh since 1950.

When completed, the new headquarters building will connect to the Fox Office Center by a pedestrian bridge, and according to company officials, will feature "abundant" windows to allow plenty of natural light into the building from Woodward Avenue and Columbia Street.

Additionally, collaborative work groups of employees and architects will spend the next several months will consult on the design and workplace amenities of the building, the company stated.

Some features Little Caesars anticipates in the new building and renovated facility include:

• Flagship Little Caesars Pizza store
• Auditorium
• Collaborative workspaces and meeting rooms
• State of the art training facilities for franchisees, crew and employees
• Innovation kitchens
• Green space
• Childcare facility

Construction will begin in the spring of 2015 and is expected to be complete by the end of calendar 2016.

"This is a transformational time our city's history, and we're honored to continue contributing to the rebirth of our proud community," Ilitch added.

The Ilitch companies currently employ nearly 7,300 people in the city of Detroit, and the expanded Little Caesars world headquarters campus will allow for an additional 600 high-skill jobs to be brought to Detroit.