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Chicago makes top 20 for Amazon HQ 2

Chicago is one of 20 regions that Amazon is considering as possible sites for its second headquarters.

Illinois submitted a proposal that includes two suburban sites and 8 Chicago locations.

Schaumburg's longtime Motorola Solutions campus and the McDonald's campus in Oak Brook are listed, along with eight sites in Chicago, are on the list to be considered.

In Schaumburg, the bid notes the Zurich and Motorola Solutions corporate campuses already in existence and explains much of the 265-acre site being offered to Amazon would be transformed into "an urban, walkable neighborhood. Additional development would include high-rise housing, restaurants, entertainment venues, a hotel and connected open space with trails."

The Oak Brook site is touted for its existing infrastructure and natural aesthetic. McDonald's is planning to move its headquarters out of the site and into Chicago within the next year, village officials said. The property encompasses 100 acres and has tollway visibility for a potential Amazon move.

Chicago's proposals include two in the Loop, including Willis Tower, the long vacant Old Post Office and Union Station. Others are Fulton Market, the West Side medical district, a lakefront site between McCormick Place and 31st Street, a downtown area dubbed "The 78" in the proposal, a 70-acre riverfront site between Bucktown and Lincoln Park, and "The River District," along the river and Halsted Street northwest of downtown.

Seattle-based Amazon solicited proposals in September for its second corporate seat, a project that's expected to cost more than $5 billion and create 50,000 high-paying jobs over the next 10 to 15 years. Politicians across the U.S. and Canada eagerly expressed interest, and the company received proposals from 238 locations, including from smaller markets like Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Memphis, Tennessee. The company plans to make a decision this year and will continue discussions with the finalists, it said in a statement Thursday.

The list reveals little in terms of geographic preferences, with finalists on both coasts and the heartland. Amazon found it difficult to engage with so many applicants and had to whittle the list to enter the next phase of evaluation.

"Getting from 238 to 20 was very tough - all the proposals showed tremendous enthusiasm and creativity," Holly Sullivan, of Amazon Public Policy, said in a statement. "Through this process we learned about many new communities across North America that we will consider as locations for future infrastructure investment and job creation."

Whatever city gets chosen will be transformed by Amazon, which has already changed the character of its native Seattle, setting in motion a building boom and rising rents. High paying tech jobs can permanently transform a region and raise the political prospects of the leader who helped seal the deal.

Amazon has said its preferences for the site include a metropolitan location with a population of more than 1 million, mass transit, proximity to an international flight hub and the potential to retain and attract technical talent.

The finalist cities are: Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas; Denver; Indianapolis; Los Angeles; Miami; Montgomery County, Maryland; Nashville, Tennessee; Newark, New Jersey; New York; Northern Virginia; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Raleigh, North Carolina; Toronto; and Washington D.C.

• Business Editor Kim Mikus contributed to this report.

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