Bears president: Arlington Heights the team’s sole focus in stadium push

The former Arlington International Racecourse site is the only site that makes sense for the Bears to build on, president/CEO Kevin Warren said Friday. The Bears are ready to build there, he said, if they can get a “megadevelopment” bill passed by state legislators in October.

“We’re ready now,” Warren said at Halas Hall. “Everything is in order. So if that bill passes in October … There are items we have to work on and obviously there is a process you have to follow with the village of Arlington Heights from an approval process. But obviously they are committed. So the goal would still be to be in a position to move dirt this year.”

The Bears originally hope to have legislation passed that would have allowed the Bears to freeze property tax assessments for large-scale projects and allow them to negotiate payments with local taxing bodies. The state house adjourned in June without voting on it.

Warren said at the NFL’s annual meeting last year that the proposed site adjacent to Soldier Field gave the Bears the best chance to be successful. On the eve of the 2024 NFL Draft, the Bears presented plans for a $4.7 billion stadium project on the Lakefront.

At the same NFL annual meetings in April, Warren said Bears were no longer focusing solely on the proposed site on the Lakefront. In May, the Bears said in a statement that they’d made “significant progress with the leaders in Arlington Heights” on plans to build on the 326 acres the team owns there.

Warren said he’s been meeting with Arlington Heights officials weekly.

The Bears aren’t asking for public money for the stadium itself in Arlington Heights, but they want public money to be used for infrastructure improvements around it. The Bears are asking for public funding for the Lakefront site.