After decades of calling Soldier Field home, the Bears have their eyes set on building a new stadium that’ll bring their facilities and capacity into the 21st century. The only question is where they’ll be able to build it.
With only eight years left on the Bears’ Soldier Field lease, the team has started to entertain proposals that would keep it near the lakefront or even send it to the northwest suburbs, where the franchise currently owns the property of the now-closed Arlington Park racetrack.
The Bears and public officials have not come to terms yet on any stadium deal, but developers and the team are pushing bold (and expensive) ideas. All of them involve moving the Bears into a world-class stadium with a dome. Here’s how each of the three most prominent proposals — Arlington Heights, the museum campus lakefront and the former Michael Reese hospital site in Bronzeville — size up.
Arlington Heights
Who’s making the proposal: The Bears, with architect Hart Howerton providing designs and renderings.
Cost of proposed project: $5 billion
How much would the Bears pay: The team claims it would foot the entire bill for the stadium itself while pursuing public funding for mixed-use facilities that would also be located on the 326-acre plot in Arlington Heights. The end result would be a large “multi-purpose entertainment district” that is anchored by a “best-in-class, enclosed stadium” that’s “worthy of hosting global events.” The team already spent $197.2 million to acquire the land, and would likely spend at least several billion dollars more to build a dome that ranks among the best in the NFL.
How much would the public pay: A specific dollar figure for public funding wasn’t provided in the Bears’ proposal, but the team said in a public letter in 2022 that “given the broad, long-term public benefits of this project, we look forward to partnering with the various governmental bodies to secure additional funding and assistance needed to support the feasibility of the remainder of the development.”
What else is in the proposal? The team envisions the stadium being surrounded by facilities that could include “restaurants, office space, hotel, fitness center, new parks and open spaces, and other improvements for the community to enjoy.”
What are some advantages of the proposal?
- Limited public funding
- More accessible for suburban fans
- Ample space for surrounding facilities and parking
What are some disadvantages?
- City loses tax revenue and economic activity from team and fans
- Stadium would be roughly 25 miles outside Chicago
- Limited public transportation options
- Opens question of what happens on lakefront with Soldier Field
Bronzeville
Who’s making the proposal: Farpoint Development, with designs and renderings by architect Lamar Johnson
Cost of proposed project: $3.2 billion or more
How much would the Bears pay: The team has not met with Farpoint yet, so it’s unclear whether they have any interest in the proposal. If the team footed the whole bill for the stadium after the completion of development of the site, that would still be more than $3 billion.
How much would the public pay: Farpoint principal Scott Goodman proposes spending $600 million in state money in order to prep the former Michael Reese hospital site to begin stadium construction. The plan also includes a land bridge over Lake Shore Drive that Farpoint estimates would cost $125 million. It’s unclear where the state money would come from. Asked if that would rely on state lawmakers extending the life of a hotel tax used to renovate Soldier Field and build what’s now called Guaranteed Rate Field, Goodman said, “Our numbers don’t contemplate that, but that’s between the Bears and the state.”
What else is in the proposal? The $125 million land bridge is the most ambitious part of the proposal besides squeezing a world-class NFL stadium into the 48.6-acre site. Renderings also show a variety of buildings and park space surrounding the stadium.
What are some advantages of the proposal?
- Keeps tax revenue and economic activity in Chicago
- Could be easily accessible via public transportation
- Uses land that’s otherwise mostly undeveloped now
What are some disadvantages?
- Taxpayer cost to prepare site even if Bears pay for stadium
- Developer already suggesting $3.2 billion price tag needs to go up
- Limited space for parking
The museum campus lakefront
Who’s making the proposal: The Bears, with designs and renderings by architect Manica
Cost of proposed project: $4.7 billion (or more)
How much would the Bears pay: The team would pay roughly $2 billion.
How much would the public pay: Taxpayers would seemingly be on the hook for billions, with at least another $1.5 billion needed for the stadium plus $1.2 billion to complete the entire project. Karen Murphy, chief financial officer of the Bears, said at the time the team hoped the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority would fill that gap by issuing 40-year bonds backed by the same 2% city hotel tax used to bankroll the 2003 renovation of Soldier Field. However, a Sun-Times analysis suggested the actual total cost of the proposal would be closer to $5.9 billion.
What else is in the proposal? A completely new vision for the entire museum campus on the lakefront, with the current stadium’s historic colonnades a focal point for 14 acres of new park land, playing fields and other recreational space that would be located north of the new dome.
What are some advantages of the proposal?
- Keeps the Bears near their current location
- Keeps the team’s tax revenue and economic activity in the city
- Improvements to entire museum campus, including 14 acres of new park space
What are some disadvantages?
- Very high public cost, likely to be billions across the stadium construction, debt restructuring and other infrastructure work
- May not address parking and public transit accessibility issues of current Soldier Field