The iconic burger-maker McDonald’s is planning a move from Oak Brook to Chicago’s West Town neighborhood, a bold move that is part of an effort to transform the company. The company will move by spring 2018 to the former site of Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios on Randolph Street, home to the talk show for 25 years. About 2,000 McDonald’s corporate employees may come along for the ride.
McDonald’s is the latest in a string of high-profile moves from the suburbs to the city, following Motorola Solutions, Kraft Heinz, Hillshire Brands and ConAgra. Commercial real estate services firm CBRE keeps track of the moves, now numbering more than 50 since 2007. A peak year was 2012, which saw 13 companies coming downtown and making a 1.2 million-square-foot footprint. Schaumburg leads as the suburb with the most moves: Five companies have left for Chicago, including Motorola Solutions.
Companies making big moves from suburbs to Chicago
More than 10,000-square-foot rentals. Hover over a line to see the company and where they moved from. Click a suburb or downtown location to see companies that left. Suburb bubbles are sized based on number of companies that left.
| Company | Previous location | New location | Move date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aon Corp. | Glenview | East Loop | |
| Aryzta LLC | Park Ridge | River North | Q3 2012 |
| Assurance Agency Ltd. | Schaumburg | West Loop | Q1 2014 |
| AT&T | Hoffman Estates | West Loop | Q3 2013 |
| Bel Brands | Elk Grove | West Loop | Q1 2011 |
| BP Trading | Lisle | West Loop | Q3 2008 |
| Capital One Financial Group | Mettawa | Central Loop | Q4 2012 |
| Careerbuilder.com | Chicago (O'Hare area) | Central Loop | Q1 2008 |
| Checkfree Electronic Commerce (dba Fiserv) | Aurora | Central Loop | Q2 2010 |
| Chicago Office Technology Group | Itasca | East Loop | Q4 2010 |
| ConAgra | Naperville | River North | Q4 2015 |
| Flor | Elmhurst | West Loop | Q3 2010 |
| Gibbs & Soell | Hoffman Estates | West Loop | Q2 2011 |
| Gogo | Itasca | West Loop | Q4 2013 |
| Guggenheim | Lisle | West Loop | Q1 2013 |
| HealthSpring | Rosemont | West Loop | Q2 2013 |
| IDEO | Evanston | West Loop | Q4 2009 |
| IfByPhone Inc. | Skokie | River North | Q1 2011 |
| Insight Global | Rosemont | River North | Q2 2016 |
| John Crane Inc. | Morton Grove | West Loop | Q4 2012 |
| Legal & General Investment Management America | Chicago (O'Hare area) | West Loop | Q3 2013 |
| Maximus | Northbrook | East Loop | Q4 2012 |
| McDonald's | Oak Brook | West Town | 2018 |
| Mead Johnson | Glenview | West Loop | Q1 2015 |
| Medix | Lombard | West Loop | Q4 2014 |
| Medline | Mundelein | West Loop | Q3 2013 |
| Monitor Liability Managers (Berkley Insurance Co.) | Rolling Meadows | West Loop | Q4 2014 |
| Motorola Mobility | Libertyville | River North | Q3 2012 |
| Motorola Solutions | Schaumburg | East Loop | Q2 2012 |
| Motorola Solutions | Schaumburg | West Loop | Q3 2016 |
| Nokia Xpress Internet Service | Itasca | West Loop | Q4 2012 |
| OpinionLab | Highland Park | West Loop | Q2 2013 |
| Presence Health | Mokena & NW Side | West Loop | Q4 2012 |
| Reznick Group | Skokie | West Loop | Q3 2012 |
| Sara Lee | Downers Grove | West Loop | Q1 2012 |
| Sawdust Investments | Northfield | West Loop | Q2 2015 |
| SCOR | Itasca | West Loop | Q1 2014 |
| Silliker | Homewood | East Loop | Q2 2010 |
| SIM Partners | Evanston | Central Loop | Q2 2014 |
| Spins | Schaumburg | River North | 2017 |
| Stats | Northbrook | Central Loop | Q4 2015 |
| Sterling Partners | Northbrook | N Michigan Ave | Q2 2012 |
| The Marketing Store | Lombard | Central Loop | Q4 2012 |
| Thomson Reuters | Evanston | Central Loop | Q1 2011 |
| Transystem Corp. | Schaumburg | West Loop | Q4 2010 |
| UHC | Oak Brook | West Loop | Q4 2011 |
| United Airlines | Elk Grove | West Loop | Q3 2009 |
| University Health Systems Consortium | Oak Brook | West Loop | Q1 2011 |
| Veolia | Lombard | East Loop | Q1 2007 |
| Walgreens | Deerfield | West Loop | Q3 2012 |
| Warrantry Group | Glenview | Central Loop | Q1 2007 |
| Willis Group Holdings | Oak Brook & Lombard | West Loop | Q2 2009 |
Sources: CBRE, Tribune reporting
(function(document) {
var CSS = [
“//apps.chicagotribune.com/corporate-moves/css/styles.css”
];
CSS.forEach(function(url) {
var link = document.createElement(‘link’);
link.setAttribute(‘rel’, ‘stylesheet’);
link.setAttribute(‘href’, url);
document.head.appendChild(link);
});
})(document);
More Top Picks Best Laptops For College Students





