CHICAGO—Downtown boosters may have hoped the city was about to score another global headquarters when officials of Peoria, IL-based Caterpillar Inc. said in January that the firm would soon relocate to the Chicago region. But this week, company leaders instead chose Deerfield, IL, a northern suburb, as the manufacturer's new home. Caterpillar reached a multi-year leasing agreement with Corporate 500 office park, and expects about 100 employees to relocate this year, and about 300 people will work at the new headquarters by mid-2018.

The move proves yet again that although the CBD has undeniably become a jobs magnet, there remains an influential group of corporations that prefer suburban offices. These firms, such as Schaumburg, IL-based Zurich North America, have an employee base that has chosen to live in the suburbs.