Arlington Heights bluff called and they are folding.

[iueyedoc]

Alyssa Barbieri
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Don’t look now, but Arlington Heights has put themselves back in the race for a new Chicago Bears stadium site.
According to the Chicago Tribune, Arlington Heights is proposing a tax cut compromise for a potential new domed stadium at the former Arlington International Racecourse, which was purchased by the Bears last February.
Arlington Heights proposed an agreement to accept the Cook County Board of Review’s assessed value of $124.7 million for the 2023 and 2024 tax years. This is in response to the disagreement between the Bears and local school districts involving the property tax bill.
Here are additional details from the Chicago Tribune about the tax breakdown:

The property would be assessed at the 25% commercial rate for half of 2023 and the 10% vacant property rate for the other half, resulting in a total tax liability of $6.3 million, according to Arlington Heights’ Feb. 27 proposal, which the village released publicly late Monday after an open records request by the Tribune.
For the 2024 tax year, the property would be assessed at the 10% rate, resulting in a tax bill of $3.6 million, according to the proposal. Both figures would be a big cut from taxes currently estimated to be near $10 million.

This move comes shortly after the Bears shifted their focus to building a new stadium on the Chicago lakefront just south of Soldier Field — where the organization announced they would commit $2 billion toward the stadium. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Bears remain interested in the Arlington Heights property, but their main focus remains the lakefront.
Could this have been a power play by Warren to use leverage for a secondary stadium site to get the original site he wanted all along? Or does Warren really have his sights set on a lakefront stadium? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

 

[zabavka]

Warren you sly fox you...

 

[Bearly]

 

[bearsforever]

They were never staying in Chicago. It's going to be AH.

 

[Toast88]

Makes sense. Multiple people here called it a while back.

Tactic to soften up the AH city hardliners.

New stadium will be in Arlington Heights. Book it.

 

[Chicago Staleys]

Knew this would happen. Doesnt matter. Bears are staying by the lake. However, where ever it is, thank goodness it’s a dome

 

[dbldrew]

Knew this would happen. Doesnt matter. Bears are staying by the lake. However, where ever it is, thank goodness it’s a dome

And not own the land, stadium and surrounding hotels? Lol sure

 

[pdxbearsfan]

Warren you sly fox you...

Thats what I've been saying, glad you finally saw the light.

 

[WestCoastBearsFan]

They will build in AH and laugh at the city of Chicago on the way to the bank counting BILLIONS in additional year round revenue from the entire village they’ll build there.

 

[remydat]

And not own the land, stadium and surrounding hotels? Lol sure

Few NFL teams own their stadium. Cowboys don't own their stadium.

Dolphins, Pats, Panthers and Commanders are the only teams that own their stadium.

 

[WestCoastBearsFan]

Few NFL teams own their stadium. Cowboys don't own their stadium.

Dolphins, Pats, Panthers and Commanders are the only teams that own their stadium.

La? Minnesota? Atlanta?

 

[bamainatlanta]

Warren you sly fox you...

I’m liking this. Would definitely love to be proven wrong.

 

[bamainatlanta]

Few NFL teams own their stadium. Cowboys don't own their stadium.

Dolphins, Pats, Panthers and Commanders are the only teams that own their stadium.

Yeah but what about St Louis & San Diego?

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

Few NFL teams own their stadium. Cowboys don't own their stadium.

Dolphins, Pats, Panthers and Commanders are the only teams that own their stadium.

The Bears issue is that they get a ridiculously low share of everything that goes into Soldier Field. I've read/heard they only get 6-10% of concession sales. Whereas the Cowboys get nearly all of it (probably all of it considering Jones owns the company that does the concessions there - also in Vegas). Go ahead and own it outright if you want, but I'd want as much as possible out of concessions, memorabilia, and parking.

 

[hyatt151]

Yeah but what about St Louis & San Diego?

Ford family has a controlling interest in Ford field and own the Lions, maybe they would be on the list

 

[remydat]

La? Minnesota? Atlanta?

Yeah but what about St Louis & San Diego?

LA stadium is not owned by the Rams or Chargers. They pay a nominal rent. It is owned by a company that the Rams owner controls. Vikes stadium is run by Minny Sports Authority which is a public body. Falcons are owned by State of GA through a public body.

The thing is unless you are in real estate development managing a stadium is a pain in the ass which is why most teams don't do it. The operating costs are massive so do you really want to expend the effort to do so for the other 6 or 7 months of the year.

 

[bamainatlanta]

LA stadium is not owned by the Rams or Chargers. They pay a nominal rent. It is owned by a company that the Rams owner controls. Vikes stadium is run by Minny Sports Authority which is a public body. Falcons are owned by State of GA through a public body.

The thing is unless you are in real estate development managing a stadium is a pain in the ass which is why most teams don't do it. The operating costs are massive so do you really want to expend the effort to do so for the other 6 or 7 months of the year.

I was kidding, St Louis & San Diego no longer have NFL teams

 

[remydat]

The Bears issue is that they get a ridiculously low share of everything that goes into Soldier Field. I've read/heard they only get 6-10% of concession sales. Whereas the Cowboys get nearly all of it (probably all of it considering Jones owns the company that does the concessions there - also in Vegas). Go ahead and own it outright if you want, but I'd want as much as possible out of concessions, memorabilia, and parking.

Yes the Bears pay like 6m in rent while Cowboys pay 2m and get higher share of concessions. Goal should be to get a better deal from City.

There is a huge difference between prepping for 8-12 events a year than now managing the whole stadium year round and having to get tons of events in there over the whole year to recover costs.

City for Chicago was basically having Bears pay for operating costs not just for the NFL games but for most of the year.

 

[WestCoastBearsFan]

LA stadium is not owned by the Rams or Chargers. They pay a nominal rent. It is owned by a company that the Rams owner controls. Vikes stadium is run by Minny Sports Authority which is a public body. Falcons are owned by State of GA through a public body.

The thing is unless you are in real estate development managing a stadium is a pain in the ass which is why most teams don't do it. The operating costs are massive so do you really want to expend the effort to do so for the other 6 or 7 months of the year.

Right but really the money maker is the land’s value, parking, merch, concessions, etc.

Even if the Bears won’t 100% own the AH stadium (they’re only putting $2B to it) they will own the land. Which means they have a lot more control of revenue distribution (I would assume, obviously not an expert).

To me, that seems like a daunting task to get at the Lake Front.

 

[Ares]

Will the Cheesecake Factory adjacent to the new stadium have any limits on how much to-go cheesecake I can bring to the game?

I suppose I will have to stop on the way back to get take-home cheesecake.

You know what, its probably easier if I just keep ordering pickup cheesecake near home on gameday and then eating vanilla bean whipped cream until I vomit.

The Bears can just stay at Soldier Field, don't worry guys I fixed it.