CHICAGO | Economic & Business Development

[left of center]

This article has already been referenced several times in the Old Post Office thread, but I figured I'd post it here for everyone to view.

Walgreens bringing 1,300 jobs downtown
Source: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/reale...-jobs-downtown

Walgreens Boots Alliance is relocating 1,300 jobs to downtown Chicago in the years ahead at a new 200,000 -square-foot office at the Old Main Post Office, the company announced.

The Deerfield-based drugstore giant plans to formally announce June 18 that its new downtown office will house about 1,800 employees "to meet the needs of its current and future workforce while continuing to attract and retain the best talent," Walgreens said in a statement today.

The company will keep its headquarters and roughly 3,200 jobs in Deerfield, where it has been since 1975, but will be the first major tenant at the hulking Post Office structure, which is undergoing an $800 million transformation into a modern office building.

As part of the move—slated for fall of 2019—Walgreens will also relocate employees from current space at the Sullivan Center at 36 S. Wabash Ave., where it has housed its online sales division since 2010. The company expanded that office by more than 20,000 square feet last year.

In addition to those employees, the Post Office will be home to digital and IT operations as well as Walgreens global IT personnel, the company said.

...


Walgreens has eyed the Post Office as an office destination before. It was negotiating a deal in 2014 with the building's previous owner to move its headquarters to the building, but the agreement never materialized and the owner, British investor Bill Davies, died in 2016 just as his venture was selling the property.

Since Walgreens began those talks to move to the city, a flurry of companies have uprooted from their suburban homes for new downtown headquarters. Among the big movers have been Motorola Solutions, Kraft Heinz, Hillshire Brands, GE Healthcare, Beam Suntory and, most recently, McDonald's. Smaller companies such as FTD and Peapod have also relocated to the city.

...

The renovation is slated to be finished next year.

[marothisu]

Prelim employment data for May 2018 came out today by state. Illinois dropped a little bit again and is now at 4.3% unemployment rate. That is a lower rate than 15 states and the same as 3 other states. Weirdly, that's a lower unemployment rate than New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington. California is barely below, at 4.2%.

Also interesting is that the Chicago-Arlington Heights-Naperville metropolitan division unemployment rate fell again to 3.3%. Unfortunately the number of people in the labor force is 58,000 lower than May 2017, but the number of employed persons is only 11,000 lower. April to May trended upwards though (over 17K increase of jobs). Hopefully in a few months it'll be higher than a year previous.

Now with that being said, if we look at nonfarm jobs, then there's over 32,000 more of those jobs in May 2018 versus May 2017. The biggest changes percentage wise from 12 months previous were Construction (+3.3%), Financial Activities (+2.3%), Government (+2.1%), Education and Health Services (+1.8%), and Manufacturing (+1.5%).

[the urban politician]

Wow, with the Walgreens news, Elon Musk news, and other construction updates I need to go on vacation more often. I love coming back and hearing these kinds of uplifting updates.

Another uplifting update:

http://fox6now.com/2018/06/15/we-are...own-milwaukee/

Foxconn will base it’s North American HQ, which will grow to 500 jobs, in downtown Milwaukee. Lots of jobs, lots of engineers, lots of recruitment from local universities. This is separate from the huge plant they are building in Racine.

This isn’t really Chicago news, but this will indirectly benefit the Chicago area as well. Executives buying north suburban homes, recruitment from local schools as I mentioned, and of course many of these well paid professionals will naturally come to Chicago for culture, dining, O’hare access, etc etc. Perhaps even some condos will be sold

[chiphile]

There is no city in the world where you can go downtown directly to your gate. It would change the game for Chicago completely--a world class CBD with an airport terminal right in the middle of it (Block 37). It would be the gold standard by which all other airports are judged, and would probably eliminate significant traffic on the Kennedy.

Instead of making this a wish list, and with a visionary like Elon Musk on hand, they should go for this possibility now. The only problem might be is that such an option would be the first choice over the actual airport side terminals, straining Block 37 capacity. Block 37 retail would have to be removed completely or integrated into the actual terminal experience.

Imagine taking a cab to the O'Hare Downtown Terminal, check your bags, pass security, board a little train, and go directly to your gate in 20 minutes or less. That's no different than having the airport directly downtown. Even Dubai would have trouble conjuring something like this.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by chiphile

There is no city in the world where you can go downtown directly to your gate. It would change the game for Chicago completely--a world class CBD with an airport terminal right in the middle of it (Block 37). It would be the gold standard by which all other airports are judged, and would probably eliminate significant traffic on the Kennedy.

Instead of making this a wish list, and with a visionary like Elon Musk on hand, they should go for this possibility now. The only problem might be is that such an option would be the first choice over the actual airport side terminals, straining Block 37 capacity. Block 37 retail would have to be removed completely or integrated into the actual terminal experience.

Imagine taking a cab to the O'Hare Downtown Terminal, check your bags, pass security, board a little train, and go directly to your gate in 20 minutes or less. That's no different than having the airport directly downtown. Even Dubai would have trouble conjuring something like this.

I love this idea, but the problem is how you separate TSA “sterile” from “non-sterile” passengers who may both be going to OHare?

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Wow, with the Walgreens news, Elon Musk news, and other construction updates I need to go on vacation more often. I love coming back and hearing these kinds of uplifting updates.

Another uplifting update:

http://fox6now.com/2018/06/15/we-are...own-milwaukee/

Foxconn will base it’s North American HQ, which will grow to 500 jobs, in downtown Milwaukee. Lots of jobs, lots of engineers, lots of recruitment from local universities. This is separate from the huge plant they are building in Racine.

This isn’t really Chicago news, but this will indirectly benefit the Chicago area as well. Executives buying north suburban homes, recruitment from local schools as I mentioned, and of course many of these well paid professionals will naturally come to Chicago for culture, dining, O’hare access, etc etc. Perhaps even some condos will be sold

This is just another reason why we ultimately need a high speed transit connection to Milwaukee. One wonders if there might not be a change of heart on Scott Walker's part if Foxconn wants a connection between it's campus and HQ?

Ideally we can just continue the HyperLoop all the way from O'Hare to Milwaukee with stops every 20 miles or so along the route. Can you imagine what a wet dream that would be? Chicago Loop to Milwaukee in 30 minutes. Milwaukee to O'Hare in 25 minutes. Loop to Mitchell Airport in 25 minutes.

That would truly be a connection to make even the fanciest Asian megacities feel inadequate.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Wow, with the Walgreens news, Elon Musk news, and other construction updates I need to go on vacation more often. I love coming back and hearing these kinds of uplifting updates.

Another uplifting update:

http://fox6now.com/2018/06/15/we-are...own-milwaukee/

Foxconn will base it’s North American HQ, which will grow to 500 jobs, in downtown Milwaukee. Lots of jobs, lots of engineers, lots of recruitment from local universities. This is separate from the huge plant they are building in Racine.

This isn’t really Chicago news, but this will indirectly benefit the Chicago area as well. Executives buying north suburban homes, recruitment from local schools as I mentioned, and of course many of these well paid professionals will naturally come to Chicago for culture, dining, O’hare access, etc etc. Perhaps even some condos will be sold

That's excellent news! Whatever is good for our little brother city 90 minutes to the north is definitely good for Chicago, and vice versa.

The more vibrant the CHI-MKE region becomes, the faster it will grow in tandem, and the more possibilities for connecting the two metros, such as potential HSR/Hyperloop as LVDW mentioned.

[bnk]

This Foxconn plant is pretty much on the boarder of Kenosha County which is in the Chicago MSA.

I was told we Froetdert Hospitals was going to build a hospital next to Foxconn

Now Advocate/Aurora is planning too.





http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...build-up-north


New Advocate Aurora hospital combo looks to build up north



By H. Lee Murphy
The new Advocate Aurora Health is laying plans to invest north of the border.



With the ink barely dry on the merger of Illinois-based Advocate Health Care and Wisconsin-based Aurora Health Care, finalized on April 1, the new Advocate Aurora Health is laying plans to invest in new facilities north of the border.

The nonprofit Advocate announced plans to build a $250 million, 60-bed hospital and medical office complex on a 96-acre site in Mount Pleasant, just 12 miles from an existing Aurora medical center in Kenosha. Construction is slated to begin later this year and finish up by 2021, hospital officials said.


That comes on top of recent plans hatched pre-merger by Aurora to build a $130 million ambulatory surgery center and doctors offices in Pleasant Prairie as well as a $300 million hospital and surgery center in ...Both of these projects will follow a construction timeline similar to that of the Mount Pleasant facility. Wisconsin does not require a certificate of need for new healthcare capacity, and thus Advocate expects to encounter few roadblocks as it acquires zoning and other approvals.


The Wisconsin investment amounts to a bet on new growth in the future in southeast Wisconsin. The Mount Pleasant Hospital will be within a couple of miles of the planned $10 billion electronics plant being built by FoxConn Technology Group in rural Racine County, which will create 13,000 new jobs. Other healthcare providers are making similar bets, with ProHealth Care of Wisconsin recently announcing plans for a $55 million, 24-bed hospital in Mukwonago.

“Other corporations like Amazon and Uline are also expanding in southeastern Wisconsin. We think it's going to be a very interesting growth area,” said Nick Turkal, Advocate Aurora's president and co-CEO. “This is a logical place for our merged organization to be building.”


...

[the urban politician]

^ Interesting. The competition with Ascension is growing.

If the scumbags in Congress are going to insist on regulating medicine to death so that doctors can’t run small practices that are WAY cheaper for the public, then the next best thing is for these evil hospital-corporate entities in Wisconsin to be forced to compete with each other.

That’s way better than the criminally corrupt Illinois system that requires the approval of the IHFSRB to build any new facilities. God forbid we disrupt any monopolies

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by left of center

That's excellent news! Whatever is good for our little brother city 90 minutes to the north is definitely good for Chicago, and vice versa.

The more vibrant the CHI-MKE region becomes, the faster it will grow in tandem, and the more possibilities for connecting the two metros, such as potential HSR/Hyperloop as LVDW mentioned.

Yes, though Foxconn is a terrible employer. They're the ones who set up nets outside of their buildings to catch people trying to commit suicide who were working there, after a bunch did. So hopefully.....that type of thing isn't the case in the US.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yes, though Foxconn is a terrible employer. They're the ones who set up nets outside of their buildings to catch people trying to commit suicide who were working there, after a bunch did. So hopefully.....that type of thing isn't the case in the US.

Wait, what? They really did that?

Seriously, though, what’s to stop these people from committing suicide once they left work?

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

Wait, what? They really did that?

Seriously, though, what’s to stop these people from committing suicide once they left work?

Yes....some employees actually live in dormatories on site. So you can see the dilemma there...
https://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/...-hebei-plants/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwors.../#1f420eb72e93

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxconn_suicides



Seriously, they are not a good employer. Hopefully that type of thing won't happen in the US.

[left of center]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yes, though Foxconn is a terrible employer. They're the ones who set up nets outside of their buildings to catch people trying to commit suicide who were working there, after a bunch did. So hopefully.....that type of thing isn't the case in the US.

That will be more a problem for their manufacturing facility than their office building.

But I jest, I very much doubt conditions will be as bad in their WI plant as they used to be in mainland China. (Things have drastically improved since news of the anti-suicide nets went viral years back. Still not exactly a great employer, but at least the urge to kill oneself isn't nearly as strong as it used to be?).

[glowrock]

Originally Posted by left of center

That will be more a problem for their manufacturing facility than their office building.

But I jest, I very much doubt conditions will be as bad in their WI plant as they used to be in mainland China. (Things have drastically improved since news of the anti-suicide nets went viral years back. Still not exactly a great employer, but at least the urge to kill oneself isn't nearly as strong as it used to be?).

Without question, Foxconn has a historically terrible reputation for worker conditions. I really do wonder what the situation will be like in the outskirts of Racine/Kenosha when this plant actually gets built and comes online. Wonder if they'll find enough people to pay low wages to to staff up? Of course I'm not so sure the mega warehouses that Amazon owns and operates are really much better based upon what I've heard/read, so who knows...

Aaron (Glowrock)

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Seriously, they are not a good employer. Hopefully that type of thing won't happen in the US.

Is this really a serious comment? Guys we banned most of Foxconn's bullshit like 100 years ago. The same things will not be happening here and I'm sure they've automated away as many of the low paying jobs at this plant as possible. Most of the 15,000 jobs are supposed to be relatively technical positions. They are even talking about automated semitrucks running in special lanes between the Airport and the factory to create an endless supply chain for critical components. This is not an iPhone assembly sweatshop in China.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

Is this really a serious comment? Guys we banned most of Foxconn's bullshit like 100 years ago. The same things will not be happening here and I'm sure they've automated away as many of the low paying jobs at this plant as possible. Most of the 15,000 jobs are supposed to be relatively technical positions. They are even talking about automated semitrucks running in special lanes between the Airport and the factory to create an endless supply chain for critical components. This is not an iPhone assembly sweatshop in China.

it's a half serious comment and yes I'm aware that things were made better. I think anyone who knows economic and labor history in the US knows this. There are still things that go on in various areas. You should have a chat with my friend. A lot of her family works in factories in Kentucky and she has a lot of stories about these companies not following safety rules that have led to numerous deaths. Pretty fascinating actually. There is some bs that still goes on out there no matter what the law is. Just because they are on the books doesn't mean that people actually follow the rules 100%. I remember working at a cafe in high school and whenever we got word the health inspector was coming, we would magically do about 50 things we never did on any other day. I am sure it'll be fine, but also cautious given their record and also how they are new to this country and its rules. I'm sure they'll have many legal experts to not let it happen anyway so I'm probably worried for no reason, but then again things aren't perfect with many US companies in the US either in regards to safety still.

[Chi-Sky21]

Slightly more concerned that they will be taking 7 million gallons of water a day from lake Michigan with only slightly more than 4 million of that going back into the lake. All because they skirted the rules by having Racine file for the exemption and having it listed under public use so it does not have to be reviewed by the Great Lakes Compact.

[chiphile]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

I love this idea, but the problem is how you separate TSA “sterile” from “non-sterile” passengers who may both be going to OHare?

Easy, the blue line.

I think any downtown-to-gate terminal should be for TSA-cleared passengers (or sterile air-side employees) only. Regular commuters wouldn't cough up the $25 one-way anyway, and shaving 10 minutes off the blue line is good enough for most people (which I believe the latest blue line track work is supposed to do).

Doubling down on my previous post, such a development would make downtown literally the same travel-time as Rosemont--making Rosemont moot and redundant. Every downtown hotel then becomes an airport hotel (imagine the travel websites reflecting that too), every top restaurant a nearby airport restaurant, and the mag mile puts the Rosemont fashion outlet mall out of business as THE airport-accessible premier shopping destination in the U.S. (way better than the airport tram that goes to Mall of America). A whole new industry of mini one-hour tours and "Chicago experiences" would be born, catering to connecting passengers who have a 2+ hour connection at O'Hare.

The cherry on top would be connectivity to the overall baggage system. Someone flying into Chicago with checked luggage could have their bags tagged with "CHI," designating the downtown terminal.

If this happens, we ain't seen nothing yet in terms of companies moving downtown.

Make no little plans, Chicago.

[marothisu]

Yes, I think it's pretty obvious if they implemented the gate system it would only be for ticketed passengers. I also don't think it would render Rosemont moot. People usually stay there because they get cheaper rates or they have a conference out there. I think it would increase the occupancy rates downtown though and probably lead to more hotels though..

[the urban politician]

It would also turn Block 37 and environs into a damn madhouse of development. Office development would once again be appealing in the eastern Loop