![Construction workers put finishing touches on the exterior at Prairie Stone, site of Sears, Roebuck and Co.'s then-new retailing headquarters in Hoffman Estates on July 30, 1992. Seventeen years after it topped Chicago's skyline with the world's tallest building, Sears aimed to make a similar impact on suburban office-park design.](/images/uploads/_small/1992-07-30-sears-HQ-2-by-Mark-Elias-AP.jpg)
Was Sears’ $500m in Tax Breaks Worth It for Illinois?
Decades before Amazon's HQ2 sweepstakes, Illinois fought to keep Sears, Reobuck & Co. headquarted in the state. But by one estimate, the deal cost taxpayers half-a-billion dollars, with questionable benefits.