Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront

bearsinhouston
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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 25, 2024 13:36:54 GMT -6 AlexM likes this

Post by bearsinhouston on Apr 25, 2024 13:36:54 GMT -6

I know that at that level, misdirection is a tool that executives use. However, Warren seems like a straight shooter and he has straight out said he prefers the lakefront multiple times. Plus.... doing a press conference to push misdirection? I don't see it. I think they want the lakefront. Whether or not it happens, I don't know. I do know that if it gets stalled, AH is probably going to go back to sticking it to them again. At this point Warren deserves it.

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JABF
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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 25, 2024 13:44:43 GMT -6 bearsinhouston likes this

Post by JABF on Apr 25, 2024 13:44:43 GMT -6

Apr 25, 2024 13:36:54 GMT -6 bearsinhouston said:

I do know that if it gets stalled, AH is probably going to go back to sticking it to them again. At this point Warren deserves it.

That is an excellent point. If the Lakefront thing stalls, then the Bears approach the AH project from a weaker position. I wonder if Warren understands:

1. Chicago isn't Minneapolis,

2. Illinois isn't like Minnesota,

3. 2024 isn't like 2013 (when the Vikes broke ground on U.S. Bank Stadium).

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Last Edit: Apr 25, 2024 13:45:08 GMT -6 by JABF

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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 25, 2024 13:57:51 GMT -6

Post by JABF on Apr 25, 2024 13:57:51 GMT -6

More feedback today coming out. Some tidbits from the Chicago Tribune:

"The design by Manica Architecture would have a “cozy” seating capacity similar to Soldier Field but with standing room could reach near 65,000, and 77,000 for basketball."

LINK
Joe Ferguson, president of the fiscal watchdog the Civic Federation, said the presentation raises the need for an independent analysis of the public costs and revenues. “It begs a lot of questions,” he said.

One key question is whether the hotel tax could pay the debt, since it has not been enough to pay current stadium construction debt. The other big question is where the city would get money for transportation and lakefront improvements.

The proposal would bail the city out of fast-approaching ballooning annual payments to pay off $429 million in principal owed from past renovations of Soldier Field and Guaranteed Rate Field, where the Chicago White Sox play. That money would be refinanced and paid off over 40 years, rather than the traditional 30-year repayment...

... While the mayor ruled out using the amusement tax for the Sox, sports consultant Marc Ganis said it’s likely the projects would need an additional source of revenue like the amusement tax or proceeds from increased property values from the Bears stadium project.

“That doesn’t even account for the infrastructure costs,” Ganis noted. “The two teams competing for the same source — hard to see how that gets approved.”

... But Friends of the Parks, a not-for-profit group that advocates for the city’s Lakefront Protection ordinance, which limits the lakefront to public use, criticized the stadium plan as rushed and not transparent, comparing it in a statement to other faltering mega-developments like The 78 and Lincoln Yards.

“Chicago has a long history of closed-door planning and rushed decision-making that does not end well for taxpayers,” the group stated.

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Last Edit: Apr 25, 2024 14:05:22 GMT -6 by JABF

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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 25, 2024 14:04:10 GMT -6

Post by JABF on Apr 25, 2024 14:04:10 GMT -6

More:

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BUSINESS
Bears Ask Taxpayers for $2.4B Subsidy to Build $4.75B Domed Stadium Along Lakefront

The Chicago Bears unveiled plans Wednesday to build a futuristic domed lakefront stadium at the center of a reimagined Museum Campus and asked taxpayers to pick up approximately $2.4 billion of the total $4.75 billion cost of the project.

Johnson and Bears President Kevin Warren sought to cast the plan for the new publicly owned stadium as a fulfillment of Daniel Burnham’s 1909 plan for Chicago, even though that plan called for the lakefront to remain clear of development and open to the public.

If the project moves forward, it faces an all-but-certain legal challenge over the city’s Lakefront Protection Ordinance, which does not allow “further private development be permitted east of Lake Shore Drive.”

The new Bears stadium is set to be built on the same site that former Mayor Rahm Emanuel wanted for the Lucas Museum, on what is now a parking lot south of Soldier Field. Star Wars creator George Lucas dropped his plans in 2016 in the face of unrelenting opposition and built the museum in Los Angeles.

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mpbears68 Hall of Famer Posts: 9,133 Likes: 11,428	Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 27, 2024 14:28:59 GMT -6 Post by mpbears68 on Apr 27, 2024 14:28:59 GMT -6 Just as I expected. This thing isn't gonna happen no matter how pretty the renderings are: Chicago Bears told to 'pay for their own damn stadium' after proposal has taxpayers footing $2 billion Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Back to Top

dachuckster
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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 27, 2024 14:36:25 GMT -6 AlexM likes this

Post by dachuckster on Apr 27, 2024 14:36:25 GMT -6

Personally, I feel that there is no real option besides the old racetrack property.

Not that there couldn't be another option. But it would involve finding someplace else. Probably much further out of town. And disposing of the land in Arlington Heights. And adding two + years to the project.

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bearsinhouston
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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 27, 2024 15:00:22 GMT -6

Post by bearsinhouston on Apr 27, 2024 15:00:22 GMT -6

Apr 27, 2024 14:28:59 GMT -6 mpbears68 said:

Just as I expected. This thing isn't gonna happen no matter how pretty the renderings are:

Chicago Bears told to 'pay for their own damn stadium' after proposal has taxpayers footing $2 billion

Warren does not strike me as a person that either walks away from a challenge or gives up easily.

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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 27, 2024 15:43:32 GMT -6

Post by dachuckster on Apr 27, 2024 15:43:32 GMT -6

Apr 27, 2024 15:00:22 GMT -6 bearsinhouston said:

Apr 27, 2024 14:28:59 GMT -6 mpbears68 said:

Just as I expected. This thing isn't gonna happen no matter how pretty the renderings are:

Chicago Bears told to 'pay for their own damn stadium' after proposal has taxpayers footing $2 billion

Warren does not strike me as a person that either walks away from a challenge or gives up easily.

I agree. That's why I keep coming back to Arlington Heights.

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bearsinhouston
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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 27, 2024 15:46:20 GMT -6

Post by bearsinhouston on Apr 27, 2024 15:46:20 GMT -6

Apr 27, 2024 15:43:32 GMT -6 dachuckster said:

Apr 27, 2024 15:00:22 GMT -6 bearsinhouston said:

Warren does not strike me as a person that either walks away from a challenge or gives up easily.

I agree. That's why I keep coming back to Arlington Heights.

I meant that Warren is not going to give up on his lakefront dream easily. Don't think he is ready to admit defeat on that. He is going to keep trying to make it work

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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront Apr 27, 2024 17:16:17 GMT -6 bearsinhouston likes this

Post by JABF on Apr 27, 2024 17:16:17 GMT -6

Apr 27, 2024 15:46:20 GMT -6 bearsinhouston said:

Apr 27, 2024 15:43:32 GMT -6 dachuckster said:

I agree. That's why I keep coming back to Arlington Heights.

I meant that Warren is not going to give up on his lakefront dream easily. Don't think he is ready to admit defeat on that. He is going to keep trying to make it work

Even before this lakefront McCaskey stadium thing got floated it sounds like the Mayor was under heat over tax money issues and there is the beginning of a recall vote to oust him in the fall. Any talk about the people funding any of this project through taxes is throwing gasoline on the fire. The timing could not have been worse to try and float this lead balloon. The lakefront stadium is a non-starter in this present financial climate. Maybe I'm wrong. But I don't think so.

If the McCaskey family wants a new stadium, build it on the property they already own, and with their own money - and now that they have a reduced tax offer there in Arlington Heights, hey, pay your taxes like anyone else has to.

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Bears thought they got their stadium on lakefront

Post by bearsinhouston on Apr 25, 2024 13:36:54 GMT -6

Post by JABF on Apr 25, 2024 13:44:43 GMT -6

Post by JABF on Apr 25, 2024 13:57:51 GMT -6

Post by JABF on Apr 25, 2024 14:04:10 GMT -6

Post by mpbears68 on Apr 27, 2024 14:28:59 GMT -6

Post by dachuckster on Apr 27, 2024 14:36:25 GMT -6

Post by bearsinhouston on Apr 27, 2024 15:00:22 GMT -6

Post by dachuckster on Apr 27, 2024 15:43:32 GMT -6

Post by bearsinhouston on Apr 27, 2024 15:46:20 GMT -6

Post by JABF on Apr 27, 2024 17:16:17 GMT -6