Lori Lightfoot Announces Uber Expansion

Mayor Lori Lightfoot will join Uber to announce the company’s expansion in the city. Chicago is one of the largest office areas for the company, employing more than 1,000 people, and this new expansion could be the gateway to solve the city’s budget deficit.

But Uber was already planning to stay in the windy city. Back in August Uber signed a 10-year lease for an office at the Old Post Office Building, the largest office lease signed in downtown Chicago. Construction on the building is set to start next Spring.

At the moment, it’s unclear just how many employees will work there. Since 2017, Uber Freight, the service that connects truck drivers to shippers, has had its headquarters in Chicago. Business developers say Chicago's size, in addition to it's large pool of talent and innovation, is helping drive growth. In her State of the City speech, Lori Lightfoot addressed the city’s $838 million dollar debt and she mentioned ride-share apps, like Uber and Lyft, would be part of the solution when combating both budget problems and heavy traffic.