It’s starting to look like a real office building.
Windows are being installed at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s new global and North American headquarters off Innovation Way, formerly Martha Avenue, in East Akron.
The seven-story, 639,000-square-foot building will hold about 2,000 people.
The headquarters project, as well as construction of a new parking deck across the street, remain on schedule, the tire maker said Monday. The headquarters is expected to be complete about a year from now.
Besides the installation of windows, workers are finishing putting in roof plating. Work inside includes installing metal wall studs, electrical wiring and ducts.
The parking deck is being built in two sections. Work now includes pouring concrete columns and slabs.
The headquarters is being built next to Goodyear’s Innovation Center. The two buildings will be connected.
Work to renovate the Innovation Center, where about 800 employees are involved in designing tires and related work, is about 25 percent finished with 150 associates already moved into new office areas, the company said.
Ground broke on the project in April 2011. The Goodyear project is being built with a combination of private and public financing.
California-based developer Stu Lichter, who now owns most of the Goodyear campus, will redevelop and reuse the old Goodyear buildings once the new headquarters is finished.
As part of the financing package, Goodyear has agreed to remain in Akron for at least 25 years.
– Jim Mackinnon, Beacon Journal business writer
