Arlington Heights Makes Desperate Attempt To Save Chicago Bears Stadium

Things changed fast after Kevin Warren took over as Chicago Bears team president last year. Up until that point, it felt like the organization was on a steady track to build a new stadium on the Arlington Park property in Arlington Heights after a successful purchase. However, the local township and school districts make a defiant stand on property taxes, demanding the Bears pay the value they'd purchased it for. Warren and his people disagreed with that assessment, feeling the previous owners didn't have to pay anything close to that amount.

Once it became clear the two sides were deadlocked, Warren changed plans. After talking with other suburban locations, he approached Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson about possibly putting the Bears in a new downtown location. Eventually, momentum started to build until a proposal was put forth for a new lakefront stadium in the South Lot near Soldier Field. It appears recent events woke Arlington Heights officials up to the deteriorating situation. According to Dan Petrella of the Chicago Tribune, village official have renewed their efforts to put forth a compromise that would bring the Bears back to the negotiating table.

Whether it works remains to be seen.

Arlington Heights village officials have proposed a compromise over the Chicago Bears’ property tax for the site of a potential domed stadium in the suburb that would significantly cut the team’s tax bill.

In an effort to break the impasse between the Bears and local school districts over the property tax bill on the former Arlington International Racecourse site, the village proposed an agreement to accept the Cook County Board of Review’s assessed value of $124.7 million for the 2023 and 2024 tax years.

The property would be assessed at the 25% commercial rate for half of 2023 and the 10% vacant property rate for the other half, resulting in a total tax liability of $6.3 million, according to Arlington Heights’ Feb. 27 proposal, which the village released publicly late Monday after an open records request by the Tribune...

...Village Manager Randy Recklaus disclosed the proposal Monday night at the village board meeting. He also shared a slide that showed 2021 property tax bills at other developed sites, including $2.7 million for Wrigley Field, $6.1 million for the United Center, and $4.5 million for the vacant but built-out and comparably-sized Sears campus in Hoffman Estates.

In a letter to the team and the school districts, Recklaus wrote that the offer would achieve the team’s goal of reducing its costs this year and next while allowing the school districts increased assessments in future years before a long-term tax deal is negotiated.

The Chicago Bears suddenly hold negotiating leverage.

While nothing is set in stone, it sounds like they're building serious momentum towards a new lakefront stadium. The biggest challenge is overcoming opposition from Friends Of The Parks, an advocacy group built to protect the local environment from excess building. This isn't a surprise. The group is against any idea of new lakefront projects, and the Chicago Park District, who own Soldier Field, are notorious for resistance to any sort of renovations. It is what started this whole mess in the first place.

Some have felt that this entire flirtation by Warren with the city was a negotiation tactic to force Arlington Heights officials to lower their demands. If so, it seems to be working. The city believes it now runs the risk of that entire 326-acre property staying vacant, which would do nothing for the local economy. They must find a way to bring the Chicago Bears back to the table. This proposal seems to be their strongest attempt yet to get something worked out. Now it comes down to how committed Warren is to staying downtown.