Could Amazon deliver new HQ to Chicago? Emanuel making his pitch
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is pitching Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about building the company's second North American headquarters in Chicago amid speculation that the e-commerce giant may be eyeing the North Branch industrial corridor.
Competition for the $5 billion prize and as many as 50,000 jobs is certain to be intense. But Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff with a national reputation, is hoping he has the clout to bring the bonanza home.
Mayoral spokesman Grant Klinzman disclosed Thursday that Emanuel has had several conversations with Bezos about choosing Chicago for a project the company has described as a "full equal" to its sprawling Seattle headquarters.
Klinzman refused to say what, if any, city subsidies Emanuel was prepared to offer Amazon to bring the project to Chicago.
• See the full Chicago Sun-Times report at chicago.suntimes.com.