Back to the ‘burbs? Bears say Arlington Heights again in the mix for stadium site

Chicago Bears brass Wednesday made another public shift in where their new stadium could go, confirming that the team’s land in Arlington Heights is back in the mix.

“The focus now is both downtown (Chicago) and Arlington Heights,” Bears President/CEO Kevin Warren told reporters at the NFL owners meetings in Florida. “The pace will definitely pick up, and we’re fortunate to have optionality.”

Added Bears Chairman George McCaskey: “Two great locations: downtown and Arlington. Both have their pluses and minuses. Both present fantastic opportunities and we’ll just have to see how it plays out.”

The pronouncement comes nearly a year after the NFL franchise and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson touted a proposed $3.2 billion publicly owned domed stadium on the lakefront, following an organizational shift away from earlier plans for a privately owned structure at Arlington Park.

But the Museum Campus plans in Chicago — and the requested subsidies that would help pay for it all — got a chilly reception in Springfield from Gov. JB Pritzker and top legislative leaders.

At the same time, Bears officials never publicly closed the door on the spacious former racetrack they bought for $197.2 million in February 2023.

Warren on Wednesday praised McCaskey and his family for their “foresight” in the property purchase just before his hiring. Warren also said he told McCaskey at the time that “you can’t go into these deals with your mind made up … you can’t go and say this is where it’s going to be.”

The football club in December inked a memorandum of understanding to resolve a long-running property tax dispute with Palatine Township Elementary District 15, Northwest Suburban High School District 214 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211, whose boundaries encompass the 326-acre site in Arlington Heights.

Warren said the agreement played a part in the organization’s reconsideration of Arlington Heights, but added “we still have a long way to go” with trying to achieve long-term tax “certainty” on the prime real estate.

That’s likely a nod to the so-called Payments in Lieu of Taxes financing mechanism the Bears lobbied Pritzker and legislators for in 2022. It would freeze the property’s assessment for up to four decades and allow the team to make negotiated payments to local governments, including the village and schools. The parties agreed to lobby together for the enabling legislation, under terms of the memorandum.

“We are always focused on being great corporate citizens. We want to pay taxes. We just want to make sure they are rational and reasonable and they’re not exorbitant and they’re not raised at some point in time in the future,” Warren said.

He said the Bears aren’t looking for public subsidies to build the stadium, but do want help for the surrounding infrastructure, including roads and sewers.

Amid recent NFL rule changes, McCaskey on Wednesday opened the door to tapping into private equity as part of a stadium construction financing plan. But he said a decision hasn’t been made, and Warren is set to deliver a report to the Bears board of directors next month.

McCaskey noted his grandfather — Bears founder George S. Halas — first identified Arlington Park as an ideal place for a stadium 50 years ago.

“I don’t know if anything that’s happened since then changed that evaluation,” McCaskey said. “It’s pad ready, it’s got the Metra stop, plenty of acreage, topography is good. It can be an outstanding, beautiful green space with enhancements to Salt Creek.”

Downtown Chicago has its advantages, too, so long as there were infrastructure improvements to make it accessible 365 days a year, McCaskey added.

McCaskey and Warren’s comments during a press conference at The Breakers resort in Palm Beach came the morning after the mayoral election in Arlington Heights, where 12-year village trustee and local architect Jim Tinaglia won a three-way race to succeed Tom Hayes.

Warren commended Hayes, who is stepping down after a dozen years in the post, and said he looks forward to meeting with Tinaglia. Warren said he left Tinaglia a voicemail after the election night victory.

Tinaglia noted the public remarks from Bears leadership Wednesday were “more positive” toward Arlington Heights than in the past.

“I hope it’s true. I hope the Bears organization recognizes what a wonderful opportunity that we all have here together,” said Tinaglia, who will be sworn in May 5.

“I welcome getting to know Kevin. I welcome getting to know George. I want to get to know that whole group of teammates who might want to take this big step forward with us,” he added.

Tinaglia, who was endorsed by Hayes, lauded the current mayor for shepherding talks with the Bears in recent years and hopes he can “carry the ball over the finish line.”

However, he said, a Bears stadium project can’t have a negative impact on residents or businesses, and issues related to safety, economics, traffic and infrastructure must be properly reviewed.

“There’s no chance in the world that we’re going to go forward approving anything unless it’s extremely well thought out,” Tinaglia said. “At the end of the day, if all four of these items are handled properly, it’ll be really great. It’ll be wonderful. If any of those four items are mishandled or not thought out well enough in advance, that’s when bad things can happen. We can’t risk that. We have one shot at this. The Bears have one shot at this. Arlington Heights has one shot at this.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250402/news/arlington-heights-back-in-focus-for-bears-stadium-plans/