Is Moto's new HQ at Merchandise Mart?
The Merchandise Mart could be the new headquarters for Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., since parent Google Inc. is in talks to lease about 500,000 square feet there at a time when it has been considering a plan to move Motorola Mobility out of its Libertyville headquarters, according to a report today in Crain's Chicago Business.
Google is reportedly in advanced negotiations with Vornado Realty Trust, the Mart's New York-based owner to sign a lease, says the report citing unnamed sources.
Google, which last month completed its $12.5 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility, could move all of its 3,000 employees to downtown Chicago. Google already leases about 100,000 square feet nearby at 20 W. Kinzie St., where it has 450 sales and tech workers.
A Google spokesman did not respond to request for comment, and a Motorola Mobility spokeswoman declined to comment.