Ever since the Chicago Bears began their saga over a new stadium, various groups in the city have been trying to find ways to keep them from leaving. Once it became clear the Bears were done with Soldier Field, the objective became simple: stop them from going to Arlington Heights or Indiana. Multiple groups of investors have put together plans to pitch the franchise on potential new sites in the downtown area. It started with the museum campus south of Soldier Field. The state and activist groups immediately dismissed that.
Right now, the two ideas that seem intriguing are the vast South Works property on the south side where U.S. Steel used to be, and the Bridgeport location where Guaranteed Rate Field is. With the White Sox soon vacating that area, it could be a perfect new home for the Bears. However, another group has been trying for years to sway the team. They are those involved with the Michael Reese Hospital site. It has been discussed multiple times over the past four years, but the Bears haven’t taken it seriously, both because they consider it too narrow and because it causes infrastructure problems due to an active rail line.
However, the Chicago Bears were just thrown a curveball.
According to Abby Miller and Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times, an investor group has hatched a plan to solve the first problem. It would increase the land area to around 100 acres, making a stadium much more viable. However, the bigger selling point comes from a direction other investor groups haven’t considered.
But with Capri Investment Group founder Quintin Primo joining GRIT Chicago, the group of developers and investors led by Farpoint Development that purchased the Michael Reese site, the partners have nearly doubled the size of the proposed Bronzeville Lakefront development.
They shared grand plans to redevelop a large portion of the South Side into a sports, entertainment and cultural district that would, of course, be anchored by a domed stadium at the widest portion of the trapezoid-shaped site.
To further lure the Bears, Capri and its investment partners said they were willing to purchase the team’s Arlington Heights property it’s “the key impediment to the team staying Downtown and fairly considering Bronzeville,” Primo said.
This is a genius tactic by Capri Investment.
One of the biggest issues people haven’t talked about enough comes down to a simple question. What do the Bears do with the Arlington Heights property if they do stay in Chicago? Remember, they invested nearly $200 million to purchase the land in the first place and have spent even more preparing it for construction. All of that would be wasted if they left for Indiana or stayed in Chicago. The people at Capri Investment were the first to recognize that this is a serious hurdle.
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The solution seems pretty obvious: buy it back from the Chicago Bears. This would free them from worrying about what to do with the property and would massively incentivize choosing the Michael Reese site. It is less than 3 miles northwest of Soldier Field, smack in the middle of downtown and close to the lakefront. As geography goes, it’s perfect. The issue has always been the size to build the revenue-generating complex the Bears’ owners envision. This is a step in the right direction.
Is it too late?
That is the question everybody is asking. Right now, the assumption is that if the legislation finally passes during Illinois’ fall veto session in Springfield, construction will begin immediately in Arlington. However, it’s important to note that the legislation will likely be crafted to allow municipalities to pitch to the team. Arlington is one of them. Chicago will be the other. The question then becomes: are the McCaskeys willing to listen to proposals that, while intriguing, would force them to start the process over of preparing a site?
Arlington is ready right now. The only thing missing is property tax certainty. The Bears have plenty of good reasons to simply start building there. No more delays. Still, this latest pitch is one that will be difficult to ignore. It solves two of their biggest issues at once, expanding a site they liked but felt was too small and getting them out from under the Arlington investment. All in one fell swoop.
