--- title: McDonald's Will Move Headquarters Back to Downtown Chicago description: McDonald's will move its headquarters to downtown Chicago by spring 2018, the company announced Monday. canonical: https://time.com/4366405/mcdonalds-headquarters-chicago/ author: Rosalie Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-13T16:05:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:33:55.254Z article:section: Business og:title: McDonald's Is Moving Back to Downtown Chicago og:description: McDonald's headquarters will return to downtown Chicago for the first time since 1971 og:url: https://time.com/4366405/mcdonalds-headquarters-chicago/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33f756fbbb8f2c84/698897913c1639939f45d9d9/mcdonalds-move-chicago.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Inside A McDonald's Corp Restaurant og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: McDonald's Is Moving Back to Downtown Chicago twitter:description: McDonald's headquarters will return to downtown Chicago for the first time since 1971 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33f756fbbb8f2c84/698897913c1639939f45d9d9/mcdonalds-move-chicago.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # McDonald's Is Moving Back to Downtown Chicago by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Jun 13, 2016 4:05 PM CUT  A car passes in front a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S., on July 12, 2013. A car passes in front a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S., on July 12, 2013.Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Rosalie Chan](/author/rosalie-chan/) ## Rosalie Chan Jun 13, 2016 4:05 PM CUT [McDonald’s](http://time.com/4019345/mcdonalds-breakfast-all-day/?iid=sr-link9 "undefined") will move its headquarters to downtown Chicago by spring 2018, the company announced Monday. [McDonald’s](http://time.com/4316105/mcdonalds-testing-garlic-fries/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") was headquartered in Chicago from 1955 to 1971, and now it’s [returning to the Windy City](http://news.mcdonalds.com/press-releases/mcdonald-s-announces-move-to-downtown-chicago-nyse-mcd-1263946 "undefined"). Currently, it’s located in Oak Brook, a Chicago suburb about half an hour from the city. [McDonald’s](http://time.com/4309336/mcdonalds-chicken-mcnuggets-preservative-free/?iid=sr-link2 "undefined") has signed a lease at 1045 W. Randolph St. in Chicago’s West Loop. “We are a brand on the move in more ways than one,” [McDonald’s](http://time.com/4229179/mcdonalds-testing-chicken-mcgriddles/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") President and CEO [Steve Easterbrook](http://time.com/3686855/mcdonalds-ceo-don-thompson-to-retire/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") said in a statement. “Moving our headquarters to Chicago is another significant step in our journey to build a better [McDonald’s](http://time.com/3731767/mcdonalds-antibiotic-chicken/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined"). This world-class environment will continue to drive business momentum by getting us even closer to customers, encouraging innovation and ensuring great talent is excited about where they work.” In addition, the new headquarters will house [Hamburger University](http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/30/the-prestige-of-patty-flipping-china’s-hamburger-university-more-exclusive-than-harvard/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined"), a learning center for the company’s leaders and employees. Currently, [McDonald’s](http://time.com/4329100/mcdonalds-fresh-hamburger-meat-frozen/?iid=sr-link1 "undefined") has over 36,000 locations in over 100 countries. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4366405/mcdonalds-headquarters-chicago/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4366405/mcdonalds-headquarters-chicago/"},"headline":"McDonald's Is Moving Back to Downtown Chicago","datePublished":"2016-06-13T16:05:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:33:55.254Z","description":"McDonald's headquarters will return to downtown Chicago for the first time since 1971","url":"https://time.com/4366405/mcdonalds-headquarters-chicago/","keywords":["Fast Food","Business topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33f756fbbb8f2c84/698897913c1639939f45d9d9/mcdonalds-move-chicago.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rosalie Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rosalie-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt33f756fbbb8f2c84/698897913c1639939f45d9d9/mcdonalds-move-chicago.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Inside A McDonald's Corp Restaurant","caption":"A car passes in front a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in Oak Brook, Illinois, U.S., on July 12, 2013.","creditText":"Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/fast-food/","name":"Fast Food"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4366405/mcdonalds-headquarters-chicago/","name":"McDonald's Is Moving Back to Downtown Chicago"}}]}] ```