The Chicago Bears have inched closer to a proposed $5B suburban stadium and entertainment complex in Arlington Heights, though team officials caution the goal line is not yet in sight.
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The Bears have filed for permission to begin razing Arlington International Racecourse, Crain’s Chicago Business reports, beginning with its grandstand and other structures.
Clearing the property to make way for new construction increases the likelihood the team will abandon its longtime home at Soldier Field and comes less than three months after finalizing the $197.2M purchase of the racecourse property.
But a Bears official told Crain’s the permit application does not mean work will begin on the complex in the near future as the team has said moving forward will require taxpayer help on the mixed-use part of the project.
The situation has also been complicated by Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s decision to raise the assessed value of the racecourse property, NBC 5 in Chicago reported Wednesday. The property, formerly assessed at $33M, has been revalued at $197M, which could mean a sixfold increase in the team’s tax bill.
The demolition of existing structures could be a way of driving down the property’s value, Crain’s noted.
“Paying property taxes is part of being a member of the community. We want to pay our fair share,” the team said in a statement Wednesday. “But the proposed assessment of the unoccupied property we purchased, and the taxes associated with it, would be more than five times what the property generated when it had an income-producing racetrack operating on it. Arlington Park would not be redeveloped by anyone at such an excessive property tax rate.”
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