To everyone who has set aside time from their Thanksgiving observance to watch the Bears play against the Lions in Detroit, I offer condolences. (Reminder: the Cubs are undefeated in November.)
To everyone who doesn’t care about pro football but remains concerned about the potential for public money to offset the cost of a new stadium project, I offer commiseration.
News broke Monday afternoon of the Lake Forest family-owned football team reaching an agreement on its tax obligation on 326 acres that used to be a horse racing complex in Arlington Heights. In so doing, Bears officials pledged they “remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned enclosed stadium on Chicago’s lakefront while reevaluating the feasibility of a development in Bronzeville.”
By all accounts the team’s real estate goals have a price tag of at least twice what it pledges to “invest” in the city. When the stated focus was building in Arlington Heights, the idea was a $5 billion complex. But Ted Phillips, then the team president and CEO, first announced the team’s bid to buy the racetrack on June 17, 2021, a few weeks after drafting a quarterback who played 40 games before getting shipped off to Pittsburgh so the Halas Hall geniuses could start ruining another top prospect’s career.
The NFL salary cap was $182.5 million to start the 2021 season; it was set at $225.4 million this year. Which is to say any cost estimates team or government officials might bandy about should be considered somewhere between conservative and antiquated, much like the offensive playbook.
“We remain significant landowners in Arlington Heights and establishing a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty has been a priority since the land was purchased,” the team said. “We continue to have productive conversations with the village and school districts and are aligned on a framework should we choose to explore a potential development.”
Those words are true, as no one else seems to want the 326 acres the team purchased for nearly $200 million. As with any large swaths that are really only plausible for certain developments, the involved taxing bodies are wise to negotiate lest the site become a complete boondoggle incapable of ever returning to the tax rolls as anything other than wishes and dreams.
But just as we know the Bears can only, through divine intervention, wield both a dominating defense and a championship offense, it’s absurd to think the franchise would forge ahead with a new lakefront stadium effort while doing something entirely different with another parcel. Until the team officially abandons the city or sells its interest in the suburbs, we’re all justifiably on high alert.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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