McDonald's new Chicago headquarters breaks ground Tuesday

FOX 32 NEWS - McDonald’s has taken another big step toward moving its headquarters from the western suburbs to Chicago.

On Tuesday, McDonald's executives joined the Mayor and local community leaders on the near west side to officially break ground at the future site of the fast food giant's new world headquarters.

After 45 years in west suburban Oak Brook, McDonald’s will be moving its corporate headquarters and Hamburger University, along with two thousand jobs, to the block once occupied by Harpo Studios and the Oprah Winfrey show. The mayor used the opportunity to tout Chicago's recent success in putting such deals together.

“It's not an accident that Chicago’s the number one city, three years in a row, for corporate relocations. And for four years in a row, the number one city for direct foreign investment, and the only city in the country, in the top twenty worldwide, last year,” Mayor Emanuel said.

The nine story office building, opening in 2019, will join Google's Midwest headquarters as examples of the West Loop's transition from meatpackers and food wholesalers to corporate business centers.

“It's going to be a fun, vibrant, collaborative modern environment which I think will help speed up decision making, will engender better teamwork,” McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook said.

McDonald's says its new headquarters will be a magnet for world class talent. The building is scheduled for completion in the spring of 2018.

McDonald’s operations in Oak Brook took up about 150 acres. No word yet on what's ahead for those properties.