(The Center Square) – As the Chicago Bears continue to push for public funds for a new lakefront stadium, the team now says they have reached a deal with Arlington Heights on property taxes.
The team bought the site that once housed the Arlington International Racecourse for nearly $200 million in February 2023, looking to build a multi-billion dollar stadium development.
In a statement released after the agreement was announced, the Bears said they remain focused on investing over $2 billion to build a publicly owned stadium on Chicago’s lakefront.
“We remain significant landowners in Arlington Heights and establishing a framework for potential future development planning, financing and property tax certainty has been a priority since the land was purchased,” the statement read.
Team officials have long said they needed property tax “certainty” before developing the site. Team President Kevin Warren told the Economic Club of Chicago that it is an ideal location.
“We have 326 acres there, it’s beautiful land, it’s closer to a majority of our season ticket owner base, and we’ll continue to have conversations,” said Warren.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker has repeatedly dismissed the idea of using taxpayer dollars to help with a stadium project.
“We need to be careful about how we use public dollars and a private business like a professional team, even if they are beloved by so many people, nevertheless are similar to lots of other businesses in the state,” said Pritzker.
The Bears say a new stadium complex will be an economic driver for the area, but Adam Hoffer, director of Excise Tax Policy with the Tax Foundation, said history shows, repeatedly, that stadium subsidies fail to generate new tax revenue and jobs or attract new businesses.
“In terms of what a taxpayer gets for that investment, the answer is they get sports teams but not much else,” Hoffer told The Center Square. “The economic returns, like your tangible economic activity, there just wasn’t much found in the research.”
The tentative property tax agreement is subject to approval by the Arlington Heights Village Board and three impacted school districts.