Mayor Rahm Emanuel addressed Amazon’s visit to Chicago on Thursday, saying he’s “proud” of the way the event went.
“I’m proud of the city, and I’m proud of the way the city came together for their visit,” he said at an event unveiling new street sweeping technology.
Representatives from Amazon visited the city to tour prospective sites for its highly sought after second headquarters, as the e-commerce giant continues its search for a city in which to break ground.
“I think Chicago showed tremendously well,” Emanuel continued, declining to share specifics of the visit so as to “respect their integrity around the process.”
“Tremendously well for a company that has openings in Seattle and is looking for a workforce ready to start on day one,” Emanuel said. “A city like Seattle has the housing prices and costs, a city like Chicago, when it comes to costs on a comparative basis, shows unbelievably well.”
Emanuel said the Amazon team knew about the $8.5 billion deal reached Wednesday for O’Hare Airport’s largest-ever renovation and expansion, and added that they were also informed of the City’s plans for improvements to mass transit.
“I feel good about the way the city showed and the enthusiasm that they would be embraced as a major job creator and economic engine to the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said.
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Another point in Chicago’s favour, Emanuel mentioned, was that the city offered multiple sites, “which is not true for other cities in the process,” he said.
Twenty cities remain in Amazon’s search process, the company announced in January.
