The Chicago Bears are doing one of two things. Either they are using Chicago as negotiating leverage to get a better property tax deal from Arlington Heights, or they are serious about installing a state-of-the-art lakefront stadium complex. Many remain convinced the team will ultimately end up in Arlington. They spent $197 million on that 326-acre property. There is no way they’d let it go to waste. Yet recent updates suggest that not only are the talks with Arlington Heights fading, but may already be dead.
Ares Dalianis represents the school districts fighting over the property tax laws for the building site. He told the Chicago Tribune that the idea the Bears are trying to use some kind of leverage for a better deal is incorrect. The schools apparently acquiesced to what the franchise was asking for on the property tax issue. However, by then, it was too late. Dalianis believes everything changed once Kevin Warren took over as Bears team president. That is when negotiations started to go cold and the pivot to Chicago began.
Dalianis said the schools tried to meet the Bears’ goals in property tax negotiations.
“We really tried to reach an agreement,” Dalianis said. “We offered them what they said they wanted, which is long-term property tax certainty and essentially $5 million (in taxes) a year, and those offers were not accepted. So we’re frustrated.”…
…Arlington Heights officials recently proposed a compromise property tax between what each side was seeking, but it was too late, the attorney said.
“To think that basically $2 million in property taxes is holding it up, it’s a fantasy, it’s completely inaccurate and it’s a misconception,” Dalianis added. “So it’s not the property tax issue. They just are exploring this other option. …— We just have to wait and see, I think.”
The Chicago Bears are under new management now.
Arlington Heights was Ted Phillips’ last great endeavor as team president. He saw it as one last vision to chart the organization into a bright new future. Unfortunately, he chose to retire before seeing that vision through. Once Warren took over, he intended to make it his vision. Every sign indicates the man isn’t enthralled by the idea of a suburban stadium. He wants a palace on the lakefront, something that will be the envy of other organizations when they see that skyline shot on primetime television.
As other teams flee to the suburbs, Warren wants to keep the Chicago Bears in the place they’ve called home since before World War II. Playing in Arlington Heights never would’ve felt right. The amount of business a domed complex could bring to downtown would be staggering, not just for Bears games but all sorts of other events, including college basketball, concerts, and so on. His ultimate goal is to bring a Super Bowl to Chicago one day. The glitz and glamor of that event under the city light would be money for the NFL.
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One thing that don’t make sense to me is that when all this started, the Bears wanted their own place so they could have all the other revenue stream that go along with a stadium. There was talk of building a hotel, a gambling suite, a kids area and all the other things the Chicago Park District would not allow at Soldier Field. Now, it seems that the city would still be able to prohibit any of that they wish and there would be nothing the Bears could do about it. Either way, I’m just sorry to think that Virginia… Read more »
@Bear_Down I appreciate your concerns. My thoughts are that they may be looking at the area over the IC tracks south of downtown and north of McCormick Place. I don’t know if that space is available or who owns it, but is is currently being used as parking space for the rigs bringing in boats, cars, items being showcased at McCormick. I’m also not sure that space is Friends of the Park eligible. I also thought the ordinance against lakefront construction only applied to the area east of downtown. (Because of Northside residences, East of the Gold Coast). One the… Read more »
The two issues with building along the lakefront that the Bears would need to overcome are the City of Chicago ordinance that limits what can be constructed along the lakefront and the Friends of the Park Organization that will undoubtedly bring a lawsuit (s) tying up construction on the new stadium until it’s worked out in court. Maybe the plan is to build in a different location within the city to construct on shared land and build a stadium (s) for both the Bears and White Sox? Unless they can find a way around the ordinance and come to some… Read more »
There are aspects of both a Chicago site and the Arlington Heights site that are attractive, but Kevin Warren’s approach is much, much better for the Bears and the city of Chicago than any urban sports project that currently exists. There are simply no other current or potential projects IN a major city that is contemplating a public/private partnership that will benefit both the team, the city and the growth economy of the area in the same way. Arlington Heights made their tax offer and it’s a good one, but as a suburb of Chicago, they simply can’t offer what… Read more »
If this is true and the School Districts have conceded then Warren you won! But if you are playing this prideful game with a FU Arlington that’s pretty stupid. I see way more difficulties in downtown than a 386 acre complex that you now own and are basically the boss of! You stay in the city they control you. Makes no sense. Granted I’m not in the politics of all this but dam that Arlington Heights property would be perfect and easily accessible for more people and not such a dam hassle of downtown Chicago. I could care less where… Read more »