Google Will Move Motorola Mobility's Headquarters to Chicago

By Soyoung Kwak in News on May 6, 2012 4:15PM

Google, Inc., is currently shopping around for 500,000 square feet of office space in Chicago to call home after it completes its $12.5 million purchase of Motorola Mobility. The purchase was made last year and will mean that about 3,000 Motorola Mobility employees will be making the big move from nearby Libertyville to Chicago as early as later this month.

Google is scouting two office locations, including some upper floors in the Merchandise Mart and a redevelopment space in the West Loop. Google is pretty serious about the commitment, as it has been scouting potential office locations since earlier this year. Its dedication to finding a permanent office location hints at a move over the summer:

Top real estate executives from Google's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters have toured several downtown sites over the past several months, sources said. Tenants on upper floors of the Mart, meantime, have been asked by the building's owners if they could vacate individual spaces to make way for a potential new tenant, if necessary, perhaps by the end of the summer, said a tenant who has been contacted.

Although some have been debating Google's intent of purchasing Motorola Mobility, this remains great news for Chicago's technology scene.