Efforts by the Chicago Bears to build a new home stadium on the former Arlington Park have stalled — but the Monsters of the Midway still appear committed to leaving Chicago and Soldier Field.
A rendering of an aerial view of the Chicago Bears property in Arlington Heights.
A spokesperson for the Bears did not respond directly to questions from WTTW News about whether the team would now consider remaining at Soldier Field past 2033, when their lease with the Chicago Park District expires. The Bears pay $6.48 million annually to use Soldier Field, and can terminate that agreement early as long as the team pays a penalty.
The project appears to have faltered after Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi set the 2022 value of the 309-acre former racetrack at $197 million, approximately $200,000 less than what the team paid for it. That represented a massive increase from the property’s $33 million assessment in 2021, and ensured that the Bears were facing a massive, and unanticipated, property tax bill.
Those school districts, which includes Palatine’s Community Consolidated School District 15, are set to see their coffers swell along with the value of the former racetrack, since that will determine how much the Bears pay in property taxes.
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