Arlington Heights Official Has Proof Bears Stadium Talks Are Dead

The Chicago Bears are doing one of two things. Either they are using Chicago as negotiating leverage to get a better property tax deal from Arlington Heights, or they are serious about installing a state-of-the-art lakefront stadium complex. Many remain convinced the team will ultimately end up in Arlington. They spent $197 million on that 326-acre property. There is no way they'd let it go to waste. Yet recent updates suggest that not only are the talks with Arlington Heights fading, but may already be dead.

Ares Dalianis represents the school districts fighting over the property tax laws for the building site. He told the Chicago Tribune that the idea the Bears are trying to use some kind of leverage for a better deal is incorrect. The schools apparently acquiesced to what the franchise was asking for on the property tax issue. However, by then, it was too late. Dalianis believes everything changed once Kevin Warren took over as Bears team president. That is when negotiations started to go cold and the pivot to Chicago began.

Dalianis said the schools tried to meet the Bears’ goals in property tax negotiations.

“We really tried to reach an agreement,” Dalianis said. “We offered them what they said they wanted, which is long-term property tax certainty and essentially $5 million (in taxes) a year, and those offers were not accepted. So we’re frustrated.”...

...Arlington Heights officials recently proposed a compromise property tax between what each side was seeking, but it was too late, the attorney said.

“To think that basically $2 million in property taxes is holding it up, it’s a fantasy, it’s completely inaccurate and it’s a misconception,” Dalianis added. “So it’s not the property tax issue. They just are exploring this other option. …— We just have to wait and see, I think.”

The Chicago Bears are under new management now.

Arlington Heights was Ted Phillips' last great endeavor as team president. He saw it as one last vision to chart the organization into a bright new future. Unfortunately, he chose to retire before seeing that vision through. Once Warren took over, he intended to make it his vision. Every sign indicates the man isn't enthralled by the idea of a suburban stadium. He wants a palace on the lakefront, something that will be the envy of other organizations when they see that skyline shot on primetime television.

As other teams flee to the suburbs, Warren wants to keep the Chicago Bears in the place they've called home since before World War II. Playing in Arlington Heights never would've felt right. The amount of business a domed complex could bring to downtown would be staggering, not just for Bears games but all sorts of other events, including college basketball, concerts, and so on. His ultimate goal is to bring a Super Bowl to Chicago one day. The glitz and glamor of that event under the city light would be money for the NFL.