Construction Begins on McDonald's New Downtown Chicago Headquarters

McDonald’s broke ground on its new downtown Chicago corporate headquarters Tuesday.

“Today we are laying the foundation for the next chapter at McDonald’s,” McDonalds CEO Steve Easterbrook said in a statement. “Our return to Chicago is an important step in our journey to build a better McDonald’s that strives to get closer to our customers in everything we do. There is no better place to do that than here in Chicago’s vibrant West Loop.”

Located in the 1000 block of West Washington Boulevard, the site used to house Harpo Studios and has been cleared for months in anticipation for the construction project. 

Demolition crews leveled the former Harpo Studio building in July to make room for McDonald’s new headquarters. Harpo Studios was home to "The Oprah Winfrey Show" from 1990 until it went off the air in 2011. 

Chicago-based real-estate developer Sterling Bay bought the Harpo facility in 2014 for $30.5 million. Winfrey closed the studio in 2015 and it was emptied by the following April for demolition to begin in July. 

McDonald’s acquired the four-building facility from the developer in June 2016. 

Mayor Rahm Emanuel attended the 1 p.m. groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the fast food giant’s new West Loop location.

“We are breaking ground to bring an iconic American brand back to Chicago - the most American of American cities,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Whether it’s a Fortune 500 company like McDonald’s – or a tech startup with a handful of employees – companies big and small recognize that Chicago is a great place to do business.”

West Loop residents expressed excitement about the change to come. 

"It’s had a lot of new development in terms of nightlife, but I think it's nice to see more of a corporate park building out around here,” said Maggie Moran. 

Approximately 2,000 employees will move into a planned 300,000 square foot structure that will be built on the location. 

"It's going to add live bodies and more critical mass to what is already an exploding Randolph/Fulton Market corridor,” West Loop resident Jeff Goad said. 

The company had been based out of suburban Oak Brook since 1971.

Scheduled to open in spring 2018, the new nine-story building will be a state-of-the-art learning center for employees, holding both offices and and serve as the company’s training facility, Hamburger University.

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