McDonald's just got involved in the $5 billion battle for Amazon's headquarters (MCD, AMZN)

pulse

September 20, 2017 3:26 PM

McDonald's is leaving its longtime home base of Oak Brook, Illinois, and Amazon could be a good fit to take its place.

As McDonald's prepares to ditch its longtime home base of Oak Brook, Illinois, the Chicago suburb is looking for a new business to take its place.

And, it looks like Amazon could fit the bill.

Oak Brook, which has been home to McDonald's corporate offices and "Hamburger University" training center for decades, has made an official bid to be the site of Amazon's second headquarters, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"Having a company like Amazon come to Oak Brook would be a huge economic boom for this entire area, and we believe we have a perfect situation for Amazon to come here, with McDonald's getting ready to move," Village President Gopal Lalmalani told the Tribune.

McDonald's is moving its corporate offices to Chicago in 2018. Approximately 3,000 people in Oak Brook work for McDonald's, making it the town's second-biggest employer. The fast-food company is a major presence in the community, donating $100,000 to the town annually.

McDonald's representatives are interested in working with local officials to sell the company's property in Oak Brook to Amazon, Valentina Tomov, the president of the Greater Oak Brook Chamber of Commerce, told the Chicago Tribune. Tomov believes that Oak Brook has a "good chance" of getting the bid, as the suburb mixes convenience with open green space.

Amazon announced earlier in September that it was soliciting bids from cities across North America for a place to build its second headquarters. The e-commerce giant said it would invest $5 billion in the headquarters — its first outside of Seattle — and that it plans to eventually house 50,000 Amazon employees there.

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