Bears Stadium news

[Wilson A2000]

The city of Chicago members of the Illinois state house won’t vote for any tax or infrastructure breaks for the Bears in Arlington Heights unless the Bears pay more than their already agreed on exit fee. The city is looking for $100 million, which is what Cleveland got when the Browns moved. Do I have that right? 

[WrigleyField 22]

9 minutes ago, Wilson A2000 said:

The city of Chicago members of the Illinois state house won’t vote for any tax or infrastructure breaks for the Bears in Arlington Heights unless the Bears pay more than their already agreed on exit fee. The city is looking for $100 million, which is what Cleveland got when the Browns moved. Do I have that right? 

The Cleveland agreement has been referenced, but not sure there's a hard ask. 

I doubt Chicago lawmakers care where it comes from. If it's $500M of infrastructure, that's a W for them. 

[minnesotacubsfan]

57 minutes ago, WrigleyField 22 said:

That, but also the bill itself has issues too, even if they handed Chicago $500M for museum campus infrastructure today. 

what are the other/main issues?

[WrigleyField 22]

1 hour ago, minnesotacubsfan said:

what are the other/main issues?

https://capitolnewsillinois.com/news/lawmakers-take-step-to-incentivize-bears-to-stay-in-illinois/

 

This article is a decent overview of some of the issues. Some issues more straightforward than others. 

 

However it's also evident how much the complexity of property tax assessment and levies are that the bill doesn't really account for given possible unique taxing body situations. It's a topic I don't even really fully grasp, but there was some clear concern that taxing jurisdictions where a mega project is a large parcel of the total assessment base of that district could end up really punting the tax levy burden to all the nearby properties that aren't part of the mega development. That's compounded by the length of time that these mega project incentives could last (up to 40 or 45 years) and the structure of how the agreement would be reached - weighted by the amount of each taxing body. 

 

Basically there probably need to be a ton of extar guardrails in place for it. The guardrails that are there are really just making sure the investment value or job requirements are met (along with some other things like minority investment). But nothing to protect for a insider giveaway that just shifts tax burden around to residents or other commercial property owners. 

[Wilson A2000]

Well, I guess somebody can build a stadium in the city 

[WrigleyField 22]

Justin Ishbia is buying a site in South Loop for a potential future Sox stadium. 

 

Comiskey site would be a perfect redevelopment for a Bears stadium. Of course Bears will have left city by then for either Arlington or Hammond. Cursed. 

Edited March 18 by WrigleyField 22

[Banedon]

Kam Buckner (Il State Rep) says they're close to getting a deal done for the Bears.
 

 

[Brian707]

Probably by Memorial day?

[WrigleyField 22]

3 hours ago, Brian707 said:

Probably by Memorial day?

Well state legislative closes right after that.