Delegation from Chicago traveling to Seattle for Amazon headquarters bid

ByCate Cauguiran WLS logo
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Chicago delegation traveling to Seattle for Amazon bid
A delegation of city and state leaders are traveling to Seattle Tuesday for a bid for the company's second headquarters.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A group of familiar faces from the city and state are traveling to Seattle Tuesday trying to get a second Amazon headquarters built in Chicago.

The Old Main Post Office is one of several sites that will be pitched Tuesday to house the new Amazon headquarters. Chicago is one of many cities competing for what could be a big economic prize.

In Chicago, other proposed sites include former Finkl Steel Plant along the Chicago River and the site of the former Michael Reese Hospital.

The delegation includes Deputy Mayor Andrea Zopp, Deputy Governor Leslie Munger and former Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker.

Amazon wants just one pitch from each interested city, so members of Governor Bruce Rauner and Mayor Rahm Emanuel's staff are teamed up for the day.

"We are developing a joint proposal, the Department of Commerce for Illinois, Intersect Illinois, World Business Chicago, the mayor's office, the governor's office are working hand-in-glove to come up with a single comprehensive proposal," said Rauner.

Leaders won't be meeting with Amazon's team Tuesday. The purpose of this trip is to survey the Amazon campus to help determine which Chicago sites would best fit the company's needs.

Earlier this month, Amazon announced plans to build a second headquarters. The tech giant said it would consider sites in metropolitan areas of at least one million people with access to public transit, major highways and international airports.

The company says it plans to spend more than $5 billion on a new campus.

In addition that new headquarters would bring 50,000 new jobs over the next 10-to-15-years, offering positions that would pay an average of more than $100,000 annually.