Chicago Bears new stadium renderings

[mikecubs]

Chicago Bears move closer to leaving Soldier Field, sign purchase agreement for Arlington Park property

The Chicago Bears moved one step closer to leaving historic Soldier Field.

The Bears announced Wednesday they signed a $197.2 million purchase and sale agreement (PSA) with Churchill Downs Inc. for the 326-acre Arlington Park property in suburban Arlington Heights.

"Finalizing the PSA was the critical next step in continuing our exploration of the property and its potential," Bears president and CEO Ted Phillips said in a statement. "Much work remains to be completed, including working closely with the Village of Arlington Heights and surrounding communities, before we can close on this transaction.

"Our goal is to chart a path forward that allows our team to thrive on the field, Chicagoland to prosper from this endeavor, and the Bears organization to be ensured a strong future. We will never stop working toward delivering Bears fans the very best experience. We will continue to provide updates on our progress at the appropriate time."

In a separate statement, Churchill Downs Inc. said it anticipates the deal closing in late 2022 or early 2023.

The Bears have played at Soldier Field since 1971 and have a lease that runs through 2033. The stadium holds just 61,500 fans, the smallest capacity in the NFL. Soldier Field underwent a $690 million renovation after the 2001 season that forced the Bears to play home games at the University of Illinois in the 2002 season.

The Chicago Tribune reported over the summer that the Bears would have to pay $84 million in damages to the city of Chicago if they break the lease within five years.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement, "We remain committed to continuing to work to keep the team in Chicago and have advised the Bears that we remain open to discussions."

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32304556/chicago-bears-sign-purchase-agreement-churchill-downs-inc-326-acre-arlington-park-property

[mikecubs]

Word is the Bears want to do a development around the stadium like the Rams did in Inglewood. The stadium won't be as fancy as the Rams stadium but word is the McCaskey family likes the Minnesota Vikings stadium which is a top 10 stadium. I'm certain it will have a roof for a super bowl, final four and other events.

When they renovated Soldier Field the ripped out the old seating bowl entirely and build a new bowl inside the historic colonnades. That's why there is such a low seating capacity. The only place they can add more seats is the endzone areas which means they would be cheap seats and at most they could only add 5,000. Also Soldier Field is surrounded by public park meaning no room for any type of development. Also the Soldier Field renovation was an eyesore. It looks like a UFO/cruise ship landed inside the colonnades and blocked the view of them from inside the stadium. After the renovation it was removed as a historic landmark.

Arlington Park is a suburb about 30 miles from Chicago.

[mikecubs]

Arlington Park race track with the Chicago city skyline in the background



aerial view



Soldier Field surrounded by parkland



The other side of soldier field, Yikes







During renovation



Old Soldier Field pre renovation



The Vikings stadium(non retractable roof)

[mikecubs]

Bears' departure from Soldier Field to Arlington Heights appears likely In 2026
The Bears have called Soldier Field home since 1971

After years of talks and negotiations with Chicago officials, several league sources indicated that the Bears are strongly expected to move to Arlington Heights, Illinois, in 2026, when the team can buy its way out of its lease at Solider Field. The team reached agreement on the purchase of Arlington International Racecourse, with a definite eye toward stadium construction.

"This isn't for leverage," said one source with direct knowledge of the situation. "It is very likely to happen. It's the right move."

The Bears have the ability to terminate their current lease roughly five years from under existing terms, and have been unable to figure out a solution to the stadium issue. Soldier Field has the lowest seating capacity in the NFL and is limited in terms of expansion. The Bears would also be able to develop the area surrounding the stadium in Arlington Heights, creating a potential mixed-use area and entertainment zone.

Soldier Field was renovated in 2002 and the Bears have called it home since 1971. The team agreed to a price just under $200M for the land and the sale should officially close within a year.

www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bears-departure-from-soldier-field-to-arlington-heights-appears-likely-in-2026/

[mikecubs]

A stadium renovation gone wrong



Lambeau Field's renovation was tastefully done along with Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Dodger Stadium in baseball.

Soldier Field, and Yankee Stadium in the 1970's were how NOT to do a renovation is the reason why Yankee Stadium was torn down in 2009 and the Bears likely want to leave

An excellent video on how the horse track is losing money and how you can build an entertainment district along with a stadium there

[mikecubs]

Nothing short of new stadium along the lake will keep Bears in Chicago, consultant says
Chicagoan Marc Ganis has advised numerous NFL teams on their stadium financing and has closely followed the Bears’ stadium saga for decades, including past team flirtations with Hoffman Estates and Gary, Indiana.

Nothing short of a new, preferably domed, stadium — either in parking lots next to Soldier Field or at McCormick Place East — will prevent the Bears from moving to Arlington Heights, a sports marketing expert said Thursday.

Chicagoan Marc Ganis has advised numerous NFL teams on their stadium financing. He has closely followed the Bears stadium saga for decades, including former team president Michael McCaskey’s flirtations with sites in Gary, Indiana, Hoffman Estates, the Near West Side and the ill-fated McDome project adjacent to McCormick Place.

Ganis said the “economics of the NFL” have “changed dramatically” in the two decades since Chicago chose what was then the political path of least resistance — renovating Soldier Field at a cost of $660 million — which won’t be paid off until 2032.

That’s why he believes the Bears’ bid for the Arlington International Racecourse property in Arlington Heights will be a prelude to building a new stadium there — unless Mayor Lori Lightfoot can find the public money and summon the political will to build a new stadium in Chicago.

Another renovation is not enough, Ganis said Thursday.

“Short of creating a domed type of project, which would be a new facility in that same general area with public sector support because of increased costs, I don’t see how there’s a long-term solution along the lakefront,” Ganis said.

“It wouldn’t really matter that much if the mayor said you could do naming rights. You could do gambling. And you can have more advertising. You can put in more events. The building itself was economically obsolete before the concrete dried.”

Ganis said Los Angeles Rams’ CEO Stan Kroenke recently took him on a tour of $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium.

“It’s spectacular. We’re not gonna build something like that here. But the Bears, for their future, need something significantly better. And it just isn’t gonna happen within the colonnades of Soldier Field,” he said.


Ganis said a stadium at the racecourse property would cost about $2 billion.

How could a team that’s essentially a McCaskey family business — exception for the 19.6% share owned by Patrick Ryan and Andy McKenna — afford that?

The league would provide “multiple hundreds of millions for a new stadium. And the Bears will sell seat licenses. In L.A., the Rams’ seat licenses generated over $600 million,” Ganis said.

“And then, you’ve got all of the revenue streams you don’t have at Soldier Field with a stadium that’s designed to maximize revenue streams along with other events that may take place. And real estate development that makes sense to take place around the stadium as they’re doing in L.A. and in other markets.”

Earlier this week, Lightfoot said will work with the Bears to expand and improve Soldier Field and maximize year-round revenues, but in a “fiscally-prudent way that doesn’t preclude other uses.”

But two architects who worked on the renovation and a structural engineer familiar with the project told the Sun-Times the mayor’s hands may be tied by the constraints of the existing structure.

Chicago architects Dirk Lohan and Adrian Smith said the current 61,500 capacity — the NFL’s smallest — can be expanded only a little, and only in the end zones. A retractable roof would be difficult, requiring a new support structure.

Ganis already has moved on to considering possible lakefront sites for a new stadium.

Besides the parking lots, “they’re still trying to figure out what to do with the McCormick Place [East] building that’s almost never used. So there is land there to do it. But whether there’s a desire to is another question,” he said.

Stadium “choices” and mistakes made decades ago have tied the city’s hands and limited the mayor’s options, Ganis said.

“So if you’re asking me, as a person who’s worked on so many of these deals, ‘Is there a viable, advantageous way to extend the term at Soldier Field?,’ my response would be, ‘Not really.’ ... Is there an opportunity to increase those odds to keep the team within that general area? Yes, but that would entail doing something that was proposed decades ago and shelved,” he said.

Bears spokesman Scott Hagel could not be reached for comment. The mayor’s office had no immediate comment. Asked about Lakeside Center as a stadium site, Cynthia McCafferty, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns McCormick Place, said: “Any decision of that nature would have to be made by our board of directors.”

Ganis said the only other lakefront site that makes sense is the old U.S. Steel South Works site — a long haul for the Bears’ fan base.

“Arlington Park is an excellent site for the future of the Bears. It fits their ticket demographics,” he said.

“It fits for the access — both by mass transit and by roads. ... And it’s available. That, in and of itself, is not an insignificant matter. And it’s used to having tens of thousands of people go to that site on a regular basis.”

chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/2021/9/23/22690200/bears-stadium-soldier-field-renovations-lakefront-arlington-heights-racecourse-mccormick-place-ganis

[Bruinsfan]

Mike do you think MLS will get the green light to bring soldier field down to MLS attendance levels once the bears leave?

[mikecubs]

Oct 17, 2021 6:54:44 GMT -6 Bruinsfan said:

Mike do you think MLS will get the green light to bring soldier field down to MLS attendance levels once the bears leave?

From everything I've read in local Chicago papers no. They are still talking of hosting concerts and stuff. Plus it would cost a ton of money to remove the toilet bowl and make it smaller for MLS. The city is in tough financial times with covid etc... so they won't pay for it.

It's a great idea though. I'd love it if the went with a small MLS 25,000 seating bowl where you could see the colonnades from inside the stadium like it used to be.

[mikecubs]

Seller’s remorse? Or relief? Arlington Racecourse owner betting Bears will build ‘world-class stadium’ at the site
Bears representatives so far have only said that the team is performing its “due diligence” in exploring the potential for a new stadium at the 326-acre suburban plot.

The CEO of the gambling corporation selling Arlington International Racecourse to the Chicago Bears said Thursday he expects the team to build “a world-class stadium” at the storied northwest suburban site.

In the first public comments from an executive on either side of the bombshell $197 million sale agreement announced last month, Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen expressed remorse for the loss of one sport at the Arlington Heights oval and excitement for the possible introduction of another.

“Although we are sad to close Arlington Park and would have loved to continue racing and investing in the region, we believe that the Chicago Bears will ultimately develop this prime real estate into a world-class stadium and development, with numerous amenities for fans and residents to enjoy over the coming decades,” Carstanjen said during a quarterly earnings call.


Bears representatives so far have only said that the team is performing its “due diligence” in exploring the potential for a new stadium at the 326-acre plot, where the final thoroughbred races were held a few days before the sale was announced Sept. 29.

In fact, those laws changed drastically in 2019 with the passage of a massive gambling expansion that allows horse racing tracks to become “racinos” with slot machines and table games as a means of supplementing dwindling purses for the state’s struggling horse racing industry. Churchill Downs had lobbied for that privilege for decades alongside other gambling interests, only to pass on the opportunity, blaming high taxes.

Carstanjen dismissed that legislation, saying “it wasn’t really passed in a form that was enough to make up for the racing paradigm in the state.”

So instead of investing in the 93-year-old track, the Lousiville-based corporation is opting to sell it to the Bears, who outbid a group led by former Arlington International Racecourse president Roy Arnold that wanted to keep the ponies running.

Despite a Daily Herald report that another racing-minded group was courting the Bears about resuming racing, the team is “not pursuing any horse racing opportunities on the site,” Bears spokesman Scott Hagel said in an email.

The sale is not expected to close until late 2022 or early 2023, contingent on the team receiving approvals from officials in the suburb. Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said last week that his office has held preliminary meetings with team representatives, but that the Bears have yet to lay out specific visions for the land.

The team would be on the hook for about $87 million if they were to break its lease at Soldier Field after the estimated five years it could take to finish building a suburban dome.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has beckoned the organization back to the bargaining table in a bid to keep them on the lakefront. The team has expressed interest in opening a sportsbook at the aging stadium, but Lightfoot has been cool on that idea as her office also tries to attract developers for a full-blown casino in the city.

Carstanjen said Churchill Downs will not be one of the bidders for that casino license. Applications are due to Lightfoot’s office Friday.

chicago.suntimes.com/sports/2021/10/28/22751455/bears-arlington-park-stadium-chicago-soldier-field-churchill-downs

[mikecubs]

Arlington Heights set to launch massive planning process for new Bears stadium

While the Bears were playing in Pittsburgh during Monday night's nationally televised broadcast, officials at Arlington Heights' village hall were making preparations for the extensive review and approval process for the team's proposed new stadium at Arlington Park.

That could include bringing on consultants to help with the massive redevelopment at the racetrack site, completing a fiscal analysis on the costs and benefits, and working with the NFL team's management on a land use plan that will address all concerns.


The internal effort is expected to involve nearly every village department, including planning and community development, building and life safety, finance, police, fire, public works and integrated services.

"The redevelopment project there will be like no project any of us have ever worked on," Village Manager Randy Recklaus told the village staff and board members on the first night of discussions for the 2022 village budget.

Amid the public health and economic effects of the pandemic, 2021 "has been a really long year," Recklaus declared.

"Any of you who think 2022 will be any slower need look no further than the top right-hand corner of this slide," said the village's top administrator, referencing a picture of thoroughbred horses spinning out of the turn at the now-shuttered racetrack.

The review process is expected to take up much of 2022, as a closing on the team's pending $197.2 million purchase of Arlington Park isn't expected until late 2022 or early 2023



As hinted by Mayor Tom Hayes a month ago, Recklaus confirmed Monday that village officials are planning to retain consultants to help the village staff with the large-scale redevelopment. Officials are researching what type of help they may need, based on the experiences of other municipalities that have reviewed and approved similar stadium projects. Further discussions are planned in the next several weeks.

The village's finance department will also conduct an analysis of the impacts of the proposed redevelopment.

"While it's very different, we have to look at it with the same values and standards as we do with any other development," Recklaus said.

The exact budgetary and operational impact of the various studies and research needed for the Arlington Park-Bears redevelopment is currently unknown, Recklaus wrote in his executive summary of the budget.

He added during the meeting that the village will have to be "adaptable and nimble" amid the likelihood of midyear budget changes related to Arlington Park's redevelopment.


But there is at least one line item in the 488-page proposed spending plan related to the project: a $50,000 placeholder for professional consulting services.

That may be related to what Assistant Village Manager Diana Mikula called "public outreach" as part of the redevelopment.

The village is also budgeting $50,000 for a fireworks vendor to put on a show at a new, to-be-determined location, as Arlington Park had long played host to a display around July 4. Village officials say they're working with their counterparts in the Arlington Heights Park District on a potential location and program.

Recklaus said the Bears project will present "significant demands" on village staff time and will compete with other initiatives in the coming year.

"I'm going to have to be saying 'no' to a lot of ideas that come up because this is going to be something that will take up a lot of our bandwidth, and we're just going to have to accept that," Recklaus said.

www.dailyherald.com/news/20211109/arlington-heights-set-to-launch-massive-planning-process-for-new-bears-stadium

[mikecubs]

The Bears unveiled more details of their plans for a new stadium in Arlington Heights. It will be a non retractable domed stadium with $5B counting the development around it. The firm that did the development around the Rams stadium will do the same for the Bears. The Bears don't want public financing for the stadium but do want it for the development around it(keep the taxes generated from the development) No word on capacity but it will seat more than the bears current league low 61,500. Rumors are it will be 65,000 to 68,000

[mikecubs]

Bears' purchase of 326-acre Arlington Park property official

The Chicago Bears took another step toward leaving Soldier Field on Wednesday when the team announced it has officially closed on its purchase of the 326-acre Arlington Park property.

The latest milestone for the Bears was delivered in an open letter from the team's Twitter account. The Bears again stated that closing on the $197.2 million purchase does not guarantee the development of the team's plan for a domed stadium.

"Finalizing the purchase does not guarantee the land will be developed, but it is an important next step in our ongoing evaluation of the opportunity," the statement read. "There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if constructing an enclosed state-of-the-art stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible."

The team said the development in suburban Arlington Heights, Illinois, could create more than 48,000 jobs and generate $9.4 billion in economic impact for the Chicagoland economy. The city of Chicago has made several attempts to keep the Bears at Soldier Field, where the team has played for the past 50 years, including its latest proposal to put a roof over the 61,500-seat stadium.

The office of Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is running for reelection in two weeks, released a statement that said the Bears' closure of the Arlington Park property has "been anticipated for some time."

"Nonetheless, all of us die hard Bears fans, the Mayor included, know and believe that the Chicago Bears should remain in Chicago," the statement read. "So, now that the land deal has closed, we have an even better opportunity to continue making the business case as to why the Bears should remain in Chicago and why adaptations to Soldier Field can meet and exceed all of the Bears' future needs."

www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35667384/bears-purchase-326-acre-arlington-park-property-official

A couple more pics







Also last month the Bears hired former big 10 president Kevin Warren as the new club president. He was with the Minnesota Vikings at the time they got their new stadium deal done and played a major part in it.

[mikecubs]

Trying to ‘make it happen’: How Arlington Heights is working to resolve tax dispute between Bears, schools

Though they’ve mostly been quiet publicly, Arlington Heights and Chicago Bears officials have been working behind the scenes for months to resolve a property tax dispute over the NFL franchise’s 326-acre Arlington Park property, according to records obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.


The memorandum of understanding on property tax assessments and payments would have to be approved by all three school districts whose boundaries fall within the sprawling site. So far, they haven’t said no to the proposed deal.

Eventually, whatever the parties agree to would be brought to the Cook County Board of Review for final approval.

Records obtained by the Daily Herald show Arlington Heights officials started working internally on a draft memorandum in July, ahead of a series of meetings with leadership from the Bears, Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Palatine Township Elementary District 15.


The records response, received this week, includes hundreds of pages of email and text message communications among top village officials, who have been working to craft a property tax arrangement that’s agreeable to the NFL club and school districts.

Emails show various red-lined versions of the document — labeled “draft and confidential” — have been sent back and forth among village officials, the Bears and schools. The village’s hired external consultants — lobbyist Matt Murphy, who is a former Republican state senator from Palatine, and real estate development expert Rob Hunden — also got a look.

But specifics of the memorandum itself were redacted by the village.

“We’re meeting on the resolution of outstanding issues,” Village Manager Randy Recklaus confirmed. “We’ve made a lot of progress in our discussions with the Bears and the school districts in recent months. And as you saw there’s been a lot of meetings and discussions with the parties over these issues.”


The Bears, who declared in June that their newly purchased Arlington Park property was no longer its “singular focus” for a new stadium location, on Thursday reiterated a more recent statement from September.

“We continue to have dialogue with officials in Arlington Heights,” said club spokesman Scott Hagel.

In a joint statement from districts 15, 211 and 214 on Friday, officials said they continue to be supportive of the potential redevelopment, but they’re waiting on the Bears to provide their appraisal of the property by the end of the year so they can discuss next steps. The districts on Dec. 8 announced their appraiser valued the property at $160 million.

“We have been engaged in conversations on wide-ranging topics with the Bears and the village of Arlington Heights, including the nature of the development, how that development will impact the school districts and potential student generation from residential construction, and on resolving the 2023 property assessment for this 326-acre parcel,” the schools said.

Discussions over the summer and fall came after the Bears and former racetrack owner Churchill Downs Inc. reached a deal in May over the 2022 assessment year, in which the land was valued at $95 million and the property tax bill was $7.8 million.

The Bears and school districts have been far apart on what those numbers should be going forward, with the Bears suggesting at one point they should pay $4.3 million before the land is developed into a $5 billion stadium-anchored entertainment campus. The school districts have suggested $7.9 million.

Records show village officials started taking a more active role in bringing the sides together in July, holding meetings with Bears General Counsel Cliff Stein, followed by the three school district superintendents.

On Aug. 3, Recklaus sent a draft of the memorandum of understanding to the superintendents. That was about the same time Mayor Tom Hayes placed individual calls to the presidents of each board of education.


“Had a good call with Lisa (Szczupaj) at D15,” Hayes wrote Recklaus in an Aug. 4 text. “She says they are committed to working with all to getting it resolved and agrees there is a middle ground number. She was at least aware that MOU ( memorandum of understanding) is being discussed.”

Hayes later wrote that he had good calls with District 214 board President Alva Kreutzer and District 211 board President Anna Klimkowicz.

But the mayor also wrote in an email to village staff that two of the board members indicated they were waiting on Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi to make the first move and set the 2023 assessment. Kaegi earlier moved to hike the reassessment nearly sixfold, thereby increasing the annual bill from $2.8 million to $16.2 million.

After a meeting with village officials, District 214 Superintendent Scott Rowe texted Recklaus, “I spoke to the other superintendents, and we are happy to hear that you are as confident as you are, and want to stand with you.”


The rest of the message was redacted by the village.

In the joint statement from the three districts Friday, officials said they look forward to getting the Bears’ appraisal so they have “relevant information” to take next steps with the team, village and assessor’s office with respect to the 2023 assessment.

“Arlington Heights continues to be a strong community partner, and we look forward to continuing conversations with all parties involved in the proposed redevelopment of the property,” the districts said.


Village officials first presented a draft of the memo to Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren during a Sept. 15 meeting at Halas Hall. Attendees included Hayes, Recklaus, Village Attorney Hart Passman, Planning and Community Development Director Charles Witherington-Perkins and Finance Director Tom Kuehne.

Before a PowerPoint presentation given by Recklaus, Hayes began with an introduction. He said the number one question residents ask him is, “Are they coming?”

“The answer I give to that question is ‘we're working on it,’ and we have been very hard this summer, and that's why we are here today — to brief you on what we believe is a way forward for the Bears to refocus on Arlington Heights as at least the primary, if not the singular, focus of your stadium search efforts,” according to Hayes’ prepared remarks.

Less than a month later, Hayes emailed Warren, Stein and Bears Chairman George McCaskey with results of a Meet Chicago Northwest survey, in which 82% of respondents thought a Bears stadium in Arlington Heights would be a positive. Hayes said he was sharing the information “as part of our ongoing efforts to help ‘make it happen.’”

Less than two weeks later, Stein texted Recklaus, “Good news, we are ready to take next steps on MOU discussions.” Stein, Warren, Bears Chief Financial Officer Karen Murphy and outside counsel Paul Shadle visited village hall for a meeting Nov. 6.


Meeting notices indicate Recklaus and Shadle discussed property tax issues as recently as early December.

“We’re hopeful that we can come to resolution on these issues very soon,” Recklaus said.

www.dailyherald.com/20231222/news/trying-to-make-it-happen-how-arlington-heights-is-working-to-resolve-tax-dispute-between-bears-s/

[mikecubs]

The Bears are on a hot streak. They traded for Montez Sweat at mid season and extended him 4 years, they are 7-5 after an 0-4 start, they clinched the number 1 pick thanks to owning Carolina's 1st round pick since they traded down with them last draft. In that trade they also got pro bowl receiver DJ Moore and a few 2nd round picks. The Bears need to keep the Chicago sports momentum going and get this done. The Blackhawks are also doing a development around the United Center.

Team wise

The Blackhawks got Connor Bedard and tons of other young talent in their system plus have 2 1st round picks in this up coming draft and the next. They will have another dynasty.

The Cubs have a top 5 farm system and they finished with 83 wins last year without most of the talent graduating.

The Bulls and Sox don't ask. They are losers owned by a loser(Jerry Reinsdorf). On the bright side maybe the Sox will leave for Nashville. Reinsdorf meet with the mayor last month.

[2b9]

Jan 1, 2024 14:10:32 GMT -6 mikecubs said:

The Bears are on a hot streak. They traded for Montez Sweat at mid season and extended him 4 years, they are 7-5 after an 0-4 start, they clinched the number 1 pick thanks to owning Carolina's 1st round pick since they traded down with them last draft. In that trade they also got pro bowl receiver DJ Moore and a few 2nd round picks. The Bears need to keep the Chicago sports momentum going and get this done. The Blackhawks are also doing a development around the United Center.

Team wise

The Blackhawks got Connor Bedard and tons of other young talent in their system plus have 2 1st round picks in this up coming draft and the next. They will have another dynasty.

The Cubs have a top 5 farm system and they finished with 83 wins last year without most of the talent graduating.

The Bulls and Sox don't ask. They are losers owned by a loser(Jerry Reinsdorf). On the bright side maybe the Sox will leave for Nashville. Reinsdorf meet with the mayor last month.

Thanks for the information, great post👍.

Cheers,

2b9😃👍