WEST LOOP — Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Motorola Solutions Monday in opening the firm's new global headquarters in the West Loop.
The new office, including six floors at 500 W. Monroe St., will house 800 employees and marks a return to Chicago for the company, which was founded in 1928 on Harrison Street.
"Welcome home to the City of Chicago," Emanuel said to Motorola Solutions Chairman Greg Brown at a ceremony Monday afternoon. He also lauded the company's sponsorship of a science, technology, engineering and math curriculum in Chicago Public Schools.
Brown said the company was lured Downtown from the suburbs by the abundant talent available, as well as the notion of "a cultural transformation and the transformation of Motorola as a whole."
Brown added, "Where you work makes a difference. It just does. It matters. It's good to be here."
The new headquarters will serve Motorola's chief technology office, ventures group, software engineering team, corporate functions and an innovation center showcasing the company's products and services.
When combined with a sales office on Michigan Avenue, Motorola Solutions has more than 1,100 employees in Chicago.
Motorola won't abandon its Schaumburg offices. About 1,600 employees are expected to stay there, according to the company, and unused real estate on the 277-acre Schaumburg campus will be sold, Crain's Chicago reported in 2015.
Motorola Solutions serves 100,000 customers worldwide, according to the company.
Motorola Solutions joins a number of other corporate leaders in calling the West Loop home. About 650 employees moved into Google's new Midwest headquarters in the former Fulton Market Cold Storage building in December, and McDonald's will open its new corporate headquarters on the old Harpo Studios site in 2018, bringing 2,000 employees. In 2017, tech company Glassdoor plans to move into a new office building at 1330 W. Fulton St. Fulton Market.
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