Medical device company Life Spine Inc. moves to Huntley

HUNTLEY – As of Friday, the village of Huntley will be home base for a medical device company that's relocating with growth in mind.

Life Spine Inc. will begin moving its headquarters from its former facility, 2401 W. Hassell Road in Hoffman Estates, to a recently acquired Huntley location at 13951 S. Quality Drive, president and CEO Michael Butler said.

The company, which designs and manufactures surgical tools and products to address spinal pathology, in August bought the building for $5.2 million, according to real estate documents. A huge upgrade in terms of size, the 58,400-square-foot building in Huntley dwarfs the firm's former 11,000-square-foot facility.

"We are packed in this building," Butler said, referring to the Hoffman Estates facility. "We can't fit another thing in here."

The move, which will likely take a couple weeks, will not only allow for a little breathing room, but also will provide space for manufacturing, which the former headquarters facility did not have, Butler said.

"And it's got two stories from an office standpoint," he said. "Basically, we couldn't ask for a more perfect setup with such minimal buildout or change on our part."

Aside from a few knocked out walls, Butler said the building remains unchanged.

The private company's 50 current employees will be moving into the new facility, and there's room in case more need are needed. The tentative plan is to add 25 employees by the end of 2015, Butler said, and he added there's room for about 200 employees depending on growth. In 2013, Life Spine saw about $28 million in sales and Butler estimated a growth rate of about 24 percent this year.

Apart from potential expansion, though, the CEO said the proximity to Interstate 90 and easy access to Chicago and larger airports made the location especially advantageous.

The arrangement is equally appealing for the village of Huntley, business development coordinator Margo Griffin said, adding the Quality Drive building has stood vacant since 2000.

"We've been working with [Life Spine] since early spring," Griffin said. "We're really excited about this. We think it's a great addition to our corporate park."

Village Mayor Charles Sass said the company, with its focus on innovations and high-tech design and manufacturing, brings a "valuable presence" to Huntley – one the village is hoping to grow.

"Life Spine represents the perfect kickoff to Huntley's goal of establishing the eastern end of the Huntley Corporate Park as the Northwest suburbs preferred destination for firms specializing in hi-tech and innovation-oriented industries," Sass said.

Griffin added there's more industrial and office space to fill, and "a lot of interest in the village of Huntley" since the completion of the I-90 interchange project.