Bears Leaning Toward Arlington Heights Stadium Again

The Chicago Bears appear to be warming once again to Arlington Heights in pursuit of a new stadium.

After pitching its vision for a lakefront stadium in downtown Chicago last year, team president and CEO Kevin Warren confirmed the Bears are no longer focused solely on a downtown site.

Speaking after an NFL owners meeting in Florida, Warren emphasized a dual-track approach, saying the team is considering its 326-acre site at the former Arlington Park racetrack as well as the downtown Museum Campus, the Chicago Tribune reported.

But his public enthusiasm for the suburban option marked a clear tonal shift. After the Wednesday meeting, Warren praised the topography, transit access and development potential of the Arlington Heights site, including its abundant space for a mixed-use entertainment district and its adjacent Metra station.

The team bought the site, formerly home of the Arlington International Racecourse, for $197 million in 2021.

The franchise’s founder, the late George Halas, identified the location as ideal more than 50 years ago, Bears Chairman George McCaskey said. The team is conducting feasibility studies on both sites and says design plans are already halfway complete.

Though the Bears haven’t ruled out downtown, infrastructure hurdles are steep. The team estimates about $1.5 billion in upgrades would be needed to make the Museum Campus site viable year-round, a major sticking point for state lawmakers and the City Council, despite support from Mayor Brandon Johnson.

By comparison, infrastructure improvements in Arlington Heights are expected to cost about half that amount, though the village’s Mayor Jim Tinaglia has pledged any stadium plan would undergo thorough scrutiny.

The team previously resolved tax issues in Arlington Heights through negotiations with three school districts, but Warren said they’re still seeking longer-term assurances to avoid dramatic tax increases down the line.

“We want to pay our taxes, but you don’t want to find yourself in the position where 15 years down the road, your tax bill quadruples,” he said.

The team still plans to start construction on a stadium by the end of this year, Warren said.

The Bears have pledged $2 billion toward construction and have not asked for public subsidies, unlike another $3.2 billion pitch for a stadium in Bronzeville from Farpoint Development, which proposed $600 million in state infrastructure funds and which now seems to have lost the Bears’ attention.

A final decision on location is still pending, but Bears leadership will need support from state leaders in Springfield, in any case.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged the complexity of the process and said discussions like these inevitably involve “twists and turns.”

— Judah Duke