Lilly to move 1,000 from Faris campus to corporate center in Indianapolis

J.K. Wall, The IBJ

jwall@ibj.com

Eli Lilly and Co. will move all the employees at its Faris campus on South Meridian Street in Indianapolis to its Lilly Corporate Center complex on South Delaware Street, the company announced today.

Lilly's ongoing staff cuts are rendering some of its downtown office space unneeded, and the company wants to locate its employees on the same campus as part of a new business structure.

IBJ reported on Lilly's relocation discussions in August, after the company hired CB Richard Ellis to lease the 465,000 square feet on the Faris campus. The office complex opened in 2002, costing $58 million.

The site is listed as still available on CB Richard Ellis' Web site. Lilly said it would not be finished moving its employees until mid-2010.

First, Lilly will renovate a building on its corporate campus to house the Faris employees. The renovation will do away with cubicles and include more open work settings and common areas. Lilly hopes the new office environment will help its employees collaborate better as they work to launch and market new drugs.

In September, Lilly formalized that strategy under the name Development Center of Excellence. It also said it would cut 5,500 jobs worldwide in the next two years.

"Collocating a critical mass of our Indianapolis-based Development Center of Excellence employees, discovery & clinical research teams, and business unit employees will better enable us to deliver improved outcomes to individual patients as soon as possible," said Lilly CEO John Lechleiter in a statement.