Only a few months ago, everybody was convinced the writing was on the wall. After purchasing the Arlington Racecourse International property in Arlington Heights, the Chicago Bears were almost certain to make it the location of their new state-of-the-art stadium they’d wanted for years. However, things took a turn shortly after the arrival of the new team president, Kevin Warren. One of the primary reasons he was hired was to get a stadium deal done. As talks with the Arlington Heights decision-makers intensified, a significant problem became clear.
Local schools wanted the Bears to play significantly higher property taxes than Churchill Downs ever did. Warren didn’t seem willing to compromise on this, and that stance hasn’t changed, according to Robert McCoppin of the Chicago Tribune.
“The Chicago Bears and local schools are $100 million apart on the property tax valuations of the former Arlington International Racecourse, where the team wants to build an enclosed stadium.
The huge gap means that the two sides are likely to have difficulty reaching a compromise on the value and further complicates the team’s plan to move to Arlington Heights.”
Such a gulf clarifies why Warren expanded his search for new locations.
Everywhere from Naperville to Rockford, Waukegan, and Aurora were considered. Then things took a significant shift when it came to light the Bears president was having productive discussions with newly-elected mayor Brandon Johnson about the possibility of staying in Chicago at a new downtown location. Greg Hinz of Chicago Business just poured even more fuel on that fire.
The story is that, after serious flirtation with moving to the suburbs — and in particular to
Arlington Heights, going so far as to purchase and demolish Arlington International Racecourse
— the team now has quietly but surely made building a new home in the central area of Chicago
its focus.Though this game is far from over, multiple sources in government and close to the team tell me
building in the central area is not just a lever to extract better tax terms from Arlington Heights,
but the real goal.If the team get its way under plans that could go public soon, it will get, on the parking lot just
south of Soldier Field, a brand-new, state-of-the-art domed stadium, one capable of hosting not
only the Bears but Final Four basketball tournaments, Super Bowls and other big events that
have tended to skip Chicago for lack of a suitable venue.
The Chicago Bears’ course seemed set for some time.
Warren all but tipped his hand last September when he stated the organization had productive talks with Mayor Johnson and strongly indicated a desire to keep the Bears in Chicago. This isn’t a surprise. When Warren led the Minnesota Vikings’ efforts to build a new stadium, he focused on keeping them in downtown Minneapolis. This resulted in U.S. Bank Stadium, one of the most highly-praised venues in the NFL. A suburban approach doesn’t make sense to him, not when Chicago has so much to offer as a destination city.
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This explains why the Chicago Bears hired an engineered firm to survey the South Lot near Soldier Field. While it’s not the preferred location for City Hall, there is belief the ground is plenty viable for a new stadium. There are also talks that Soldier Field could be demolished, turning it into a public park. This would mollify advocacy groups against private construction on the lakefront. So many details remain to be determined. However, it sure sounds like the Bears have a clear objective now, and it’s nowhere close to what anybody expected.
