A professional soccer franchise is giving an assist to Chicago’s Northwest Side.
Billionaire Joe Mansueto’s Chicago Fire Football Club is planning a 32-acre facility in the Hanson Park area of Belmont Cragin, Crain’s Chicago reported. The development would centralize the operations of the franchise and bring hundreds of jobs to the area.
The club will present its plans for 5501 W. Fullerton Avenue to the community next week. The development is slated to include training grounds, seven soccer fields and a 90,000-square-foot performance center. It is expected to cost $85 million to $90 million.
Chicago Public Schools owns the swath of land along Central Avenue between Grand and Fullerton avenues. The property houses three schools and the 2,000-seat Hanson Stadium, which will be renovated as part of the redevelopment. It will get a seasonal dome so it can be used year-round. The youth squads affiliated with Chicago Fire will be able to use the facilities as well.
The team is headquartered in the Loop and trains in the SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview. Those operations would be consolidated into the new facility. (The group also owns and operates CIBC Fire Pitch in North Center.)
The project would bring about 200 construction jobs to the area and the team would have 220 people running the facility daily.
[Crain’s] — Danielle Balbi