Bears score predevelopment agreement with Arlington Heights

The Chicago Bears got a first down in Arlington Heights, yet are still well outside the red zone with the team’s plan to build a new stadium and mixed-use entertainment district in the northwest suburb.

The village board unanimously approved a predevelopment agreement with the NFL squad for the project, the Daily Herald reported. The agreement covers future zoning changes and public financing that the team requested, without guaranteeing the provision of any money or tax breaks.

In addition, the board agreed to amend the overlay zoning district for the vacant 326-acre Arlington Racecourse in a move that will allow for a sports betting facility.

“We’ve got a long, long way to go, but this is a very important and necessary step to move this redevelopment forward,” Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes said.

The agreement doesn’t represent a binding obligation for the team or the village, Bears’ general counsel Cliff Stein said. “It is a good faith agreement to work together to cooperate for the exploration of the redevelopment of this property. But this is a very important step in the process.”

A key point in the nine-page agreement is the section that calls for the “exploration of public-private partnerships.” The Bears said the team would request public financing from the village and other governmental agencies for part of the development.

The team isn’t seeking funding for the stadium itself, but rather for the planned mixed-use district that would surround the stadium. One potential source of funding would be from a tax increment finance, or TIF, district.

Under a TIF arrangement, the property value at which the Bears would be taxed would be capped for more than two decades so that certain improvements don’t count toward the team’s tax bill for any of the residential, shopping and dining buildings that would surround the stadium.

Some local taxing bodies take issue when such deals limit the amount of revenue they would normally receive from new growth and real estate development for years. Palatine Township Elementary District officials are already rallying against making any such agreement for the Bears project.

Americans for Prosperity Illinois tried to pass an anti-corporate welfare petition that would prevent the team and similar corporations from requesting taxpayer financing. Arlington Heights rejected that in September.

“The NFL and the Chicago Bears should play by the same rules as every other business in Arlington Heights,” Brian Coston, deputy state director of the group, told the outlet. “This is a road map for roughing the taxpayers.”

With the nonbinding predevelopment agreement in place, the team can move forward with the closing of its pending $197.2 million purchase of the former racecourse, which is expected by early 2023.

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— Victoria Pruitt