Future White Sox Owner Nears Deal For 47-Acre Potential Stadium Site
The private equity firm of Justin Ishbia, the future owner of the Chicago White Sox, is close to a deal to acquire a 47-acre rail yard in the South Loop, reigniting the possibility of a new stadium for the team.
Shore Capital is under contract to buy the 14th Street Coach Yard from Amtrak and is in the planning stages for a mixed-use development there, Crain's Chicago Business reports.
The Amtrak rail yard is across the river from The 78 megadevelopment, the site where the White Sox proposed a new stadium in 2024 and the Chicago Fire broke ground on a privately financed home in March.
A completed deal would set the stage for another stadium-centric district in the city. While details about the project are limited, Shore Capital is exploring a potential healthcare facility and innovation hub with Northwestern Medicine, sources told Crain's. Shore is also reportedly working with Sterling Bay in some capacity on the project.
The price tag on the deal is unclear.
Ishbia entered an agreement in June that gives longtime White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf the option to sell the controlling interest in the team to Ishbia from 2029 to 2033. After the 2034 season, Ishbia has the option to acquire the controlling stake in the team from Reinsdorf.
The billionaire owner-in-waiting has made clear his intentions to build a new stadium for the team.
“I’m 48, right? And so whether a new stadium occurs in four years or 34 years, I don’t know, but I’m going to be involved in a stadium at some point with the White Sox,” Ishbia told the Chicago Sun-Times in November.
While there is no guarantee that a new stadium would be built at the Amtrak site, sources told Crain's that Ishbia and Shore are considering it. The team's lease at Rate Field expires in 2029.
For Shore to redevelop the rail yard site, Amtrak would first need to find a new home for its maintenance campus, which it has identified as a priority. The rail yard remains operational.
The latest twist in the Sox's search for a new home comes after the team's most recent attempt to get a stadium at The 78 stalled. In early 2024, the White Sox unveiled a proposal to relocate about 2 miles north of the team's current home, with a plan to request nearly $1B in public money for the move.
But the team has met resistance from Gov. JB Pritzker, who has been cautious about using taxpayer dollars to finance stadium projects for the White Sox and the Chicago Bears. Chicago Fire owner Joe Mansueto has said he is open to sharing The 78 with the Sox, but Alderman Pat Dowell, whose ward includes the site, told Crain's it is too small for two teams.
