It appears to be Chicago against Arlington Heights in the battle for the Bears business.
The National Football League’s Chicago Bears franchise ownership is now pitting Chicago against the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights in the stadium game. Kevin Warren, who is the Bears business President and CEO, probably likes to be in the position to pit Arlington Heights against Chicago. “I don’t know if it would hurt,” Warren said. “I would just think that it would provide us even with more opportunities in Arlington Heights if that happened, because people when they come to Chicago, they’ll stay downtown, they’ll take the train there. All the restaurants will still be active.” Warren would like to have the stadium saga done sometime during 2025 but there are a number of hurdles to overcome.
Bears’ ownership had hoped to break ground for a state-of-the-art 21st century venue by now. The Bears’ business is looking for land to build a stadium. It is unclear if Bears’ ownership feels that a 326-acre piece of property it owns in Arlington Heights is suitable as a location for a stadium or if the group thinks the local property tax bill is too high. The property tax bill problem seems to have been rectified. Bears’ ownership seemingly would rather move its base of operations within a five minute walk of its present Soldier Field home. Bears’ ownership wants to build a stadium in Soldier Field’s parking lot and surround the facility with stores, office space and housing. Bears’ ownership has met resistance to that notion. The McCaskey family, the owners of the football business, claimed they were willing to throw in about $2 billion to help finance the venture but the McCaskeys wanted at least $900 million in bonds from the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority. Illinois politicians are not too impressed with the McCaskey family’s plans. The Bears’ stadium saga continues.
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