Chicago, Amazon Talk About 2nd Headquarters In City: Report

CHICAGO, IL — Mayor Rahm Emanuel and city officials are trying to lure Amazon to Chicago after the dot-com giant revealed Thursday morning it was searching for a location for a second headquarters outside of its home base in Seattle, a source told Crain's Chicago Business. Landing Amazon's second HQ could bring around 50,000 jobs to Chicago and would continue the company's growth in Illinois.

According to Crain's, Emanuel already has talked with CEO Jeff Bezos about the possibility of expanding Amazon's Chicago presence even further by spending up to $5 billion to build its HQ2 in the city. The online retailer already has an office in downtown Chicago with 200 employees, and the size of that facility has recently doubled, the report added. Amazon also opened a bricks-and-mortar store in the Lake View neighborhood last year, and it has a pickup center on the University of Illinois-Chicago campus.

Outside of Chicago, the company has fulfillment centers in Joliet, Romeoville and Aurora. In May, Amazon announced plans to hire 2,000 full-time employees in Illinois over the next 14 months, which would bring its total workforce in the state to about 7,000 people. (Get Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news for Chicago — or your neighborhood. And iPhone users: Check out Patch's new app.)

Watch: Amazon Is Expanding, And It Could Be Coming To A City Near You

RELATED: Amazon Hiring 2,000 In Illinois

Chicago isn't the only interested city, however. Amazon's desire to build a second headquarters outside of Seattle is part of an attempt to create a competition among potential suitors to woo the company to their neck of the woods.

“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” Bezos said in a statement Thursday. “Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home."

RELATED: Second Amazon HQ To Be Built Outside Seattle

When it comes to choosing a location, Amazon said it will be looking for an area with more than a million people and with urban and suburban spots that would be attractive to "strong technical talent."

More via Crain's Chicago Business

Image via Amazon.com

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