Brandon Johnson, Bears Meet on Possible New Stadium Sites

The Chicago Bears’ hunt for a new stadium site in the suburbs got off to a false start, and now Mayor Brandon Johnson is working to keep the NFL squad in the city limits.

Johnson and team president Kevin Warren are gearing up to explore potential stadium sites in Chicago, as the Bears look to move on from Soldier Field, where it’s played for almost a century, Crain’s reported.

The team appeared locked in to building a $5 billion stadium district in Arlington Heights when it finalized a deal to pay $197 million for the former Arlington International Racecourse in February and began its demolition shortly thereafter. However, the Bears were forced to look elsewhere after being hit with a $197 million property tax reassessment and have since explored sites in other suburbs, including Naperville.

Johnson is making some effort to keep the Bears in Chicago, though. One of the new mayor’s challenges is finding enough acreage to allow for a potential entertainment district along with a stadium, like the team was planning in Arlington Heights. It’s possible that Johnson and Warren are able to find a property that fulfills the team’s original vision, or the city might have to convince them to settle for a smaller-scale development.

“We continued our productive discussion this week that began in early June,” the city and team said in a joint statement. “We plan to have regular dialogue with each other and across our respective staffs as we work together to meet the needs of the citizens of Chicago and Bears fans.”

The search has barely begun, but some possible locations are being thrown around. One is the 500-acre former U.S. Steel site on the Southeast Side along Lake Michigan. Other candidates include Related Midwest’s The 78 megadevelopment near Chinatown and the McCormick Place Convention Center campus that has redevelopment potential.

Developer Bob Dunn of Landmark Development proposed revamping Soldier Field as part of his One Central megadevelopment proposal just west of the existing stadium. But the Bears haven’t expressed interest in staying at its long-time home, and Dunn’s overall plan requires $6.5 billion in state subsidies to fund work on the commuter railway station and tracks that would be incorporated into the project.

— Quinn Donoghue