Today, the city and state announced the 10 locations (two in the suburbs, eight inside city limits) that it's presenting to Amazon as potential locations for the internet retailer's second headquarters. The $5 billion project would bring an estimated 50,000 jobs to the city of Chicago.
Amazon stopped taking applications from potential host cities last night and is expected to announce a list of contenders and make a final decision sometime in 2018. Officials refused to disclose the financial incentives offered by Chicago and the state to entice Amazon, but the pitch likely includes multibillion-dollar tax breaks.
Check out all of the proposed sites below and try to imagine a new neighborhood worth of tech workers springing up:
1. The former Motorola headquarters in Schaumburg
This spot sits right off I-90 behind the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center, offering suburban seclusion. Currently, UrbanStreet Group is working on retail development in the area.
2. The former McDonald's headquarters in Oak Brook
McDonald's Corporate is making the move to Fulton Market, leaving behind plenty of space just south of the tollway in Oak Brook. It's right around the corner from the second-biggest mall in the Chicago area, making it viable real estate.
3. The River District
Located at the south end of Goose Island, this area was branded by Tribune Media thanks to their new urban planning ideas. Could Amazon HQ interfere?
4. Lincoln Yards
The Lincoln Yards proposal encompasses 70 acres of riverfront along the North Branch of the Chicago River between Lincoln Park and Bucktown (including the warehouses and parking lots where the city once parked its garbage trucks). Property plans here are under developer Sterling Bay's supervision—we're worried about what it would mean for beloved music venue the Hideout.
5. Illinois Medical District
This special-use zoning district is two miles west of the Loop, set between the I-290 and West 16th Street. From Ashland Avenue to the intersection of Route 66 and Roosevelt Road, there's plenty of space between the hospitals and research facilities currently in place.
6. The 78
The largest undeveloped stretch of land near the Loop, this 62-acre of Chicago River-adjacent property would be shared with a recently announced $1.2 billion research facility that was recently proposed by the University of Illinois. Developer Related Midwest called the area "the 78" because of it's potential to create a new neighborhood in the city—the 78th, to be exact.
7. Fulton Market
Though it already hosts Google and McDonalds, the Near West Side warehouse district still has enough land available to house the e-commerce giant, according to city officials.
8. Downtown Gateway District
Using space in the Willis Tower and the Old Main Post Office, the city has proposed a plan that would make use of existing real estate and incorporate three new office towers.
9. Burnham Lakefront
This southern expanse stretches from McCormick Place to 31st Street Beach, offering a half mile of Lake Michigan coast for construction.
10. City Center campus
Taking over the Thompson Center (which the state is trying to sell), this location would put Amazon right on top of the Clark and Lake train station. Would we have to start calling it the Prime stop?