Warren Sings Virtues Of Bears’ Land In The Chicago Suburbs

While the Bears continue to state their interest in two potential stadium sites near downtown Chicago, it appears they are closing in on a move to suburban Arlington Heights. They agreed to purchase the Arlington Racecourse site from Churchill Downs in 2022 but team president Kevin Warren, who was hired in 2023, shifted their focus back to land adjacent to Soldier Field.

Warren’s remarks on Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting made it appear the team’s owners have become sufficiently pessimistic about obtaining public funding to build in Chicago. But he insisted the team hasn’t abandoned the possibility of building either on the museum campus or the former site of Michael Reese Hospital, in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

It’s possible Warren is issuing last call for the state of Illinois and the city to step up to keep the team in Chicago. The Illinois General Assembly is currently in session, with a schedule that calls for it to adjourn May 31.

While both the Bears and the White Sox spent the last year lobbying for help financing stadium projects, Gov. JB Pritzker hasn’t been swayed. He recently called public funding “nearly impossible.”

After purchasing the 326-acre site in Arlington Heights, the Bears engaged in talks with the city over valuations for property taxes. The team seems satisfied with a tax bill of $3.6 million per year, which was approved by the Arlington Heights Village Board in December, but Warren said the team’s owners remain concerned about the possibility of future increases.

“We still have a long way to go,” he said Wednesday. “I mean, I think the biggest things at Arlington Heights — any location for the stadium — will always be tax certainty. That’s critically important … We have some certainty in a limited period of time, but we’re working on and making sure we can get long-term certainty.’’

The Chicago Sun Times reports the cost of building in Arlington Heights could reach $5 billion. The Bears, who have never owned their home stadium, are seeking funding to pay for “infrastructure,” according to Warren.

Warren’s tone on Wednesday was markedly different from a year ago. His comments at the 2024 owner’s meetings were focused on a desire to build a roofed stadium on the museum campus, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Soldier Field. But this time around he sold the virtues of the suburban site he inherited when he was put in charge of the stadium effort.

“I keep going back to it, it’s an absolutely fantastic piece of land,” Warren said of the Arlington Racecourse site. “I thank George (McCaskey) and his family for having the foresight (to buy it). To be able to find 326 acres that close to a wonderful city is difficult to do. I don’t know if it exists anywhere in the country . The focus now is both downtown and Arlington Heights.’’

Warren said the team could build the same roofed stadium that was designed for the lakefront site on the Arlington Racecourse site. He is excited about the ability to potentially host Super Bowls, College Football playoff games, the Final Four, concerts and other events at a new stadium.

“The economic value that would bring to our communities astronomical,” Warren said. “It doesn’t exist anywhere in the world. And then you start weaving in mixed-use development, hotels, housing, restaurants, (and) it does really create a destination.’’

Warren has said he is confident the Bears can begin construction in 2025. He stressed the availability of a train stop that had been placed for Arlington Heights’ now-defunct horse track and the possibility of surrounding a suburban stadium with hotels and restaurants, in addition to acres of parking.

“George Halas identified (Arlington Heights) more than 50 years ago as an ideal place for a Bears stadium, and I don’t know if anything that’s happened since then changed that evaluation,” McCaskey said. “It’s (construction) ready, it’s got the Metra (train) stop, plenty of acreage, (the) topography is good. It can be an outstanding, beautiful green space … but the downtown locations have their advantages too. Kevin has said it since he’s been here.’’

Is it now advantage, Arlington Heights? That’s how it sounded listening to Warren’s latest take.