The Chicago Bears have already talked about what they want to do on this land. Was I dreaming when I read the following: “The team has sketched out designs on a new entertainment district anchored by a $5 billion domed stadium”? Why would the city, much less anyone, allow the team to peg this land as vacant or residential land? Well, the Bears have an answer for that too.
Yesterday, I read an interesting opinion piece in the Chicago Tribune. In it, a woman claims that the city of Chicago should just hand back naming rights money along with ownership of the Chicago Bears stadium land. Why? Because the Bears owners family is nice? I don't know. I couldn't find anything substantive or factual about her belief that the city doing this would make a single difference compared to today.
The Chicago Bears publicly admitted to buying land in nearby Arlington Heights to likely build a new stadium. However, it appears that a Chicago (technically Cook County) assessor is now holding the Bears accountable for future property taxes on this land. The county assessor raised the property tax value of this land by six times (applies to tax year 2022 and beyond), and that does not even include the construction that will be done.
