A new location is being floated for the Chicago Bears to build a new stadium, this time on the city's South Side.
Real estate developer Related Midwest is pitching a domed stadium at the former U.S. Steel South Works site along Lake Michigan.
The 200-acre site is near the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park, a massive quantum campus, at 87th Street and DuSable Lake Shore Drive.
Related Midwest – which is also the team behind the Chicago Fire's new stadium and the massive megadevelopment near the South Loop dubbed The 78 – said in a post on its website that a new Bears stadium at the former U.S. Steel site would build on the investment already made in the area.
"It's going to make our city better and it's going to make our state better," Related Midwest CEO Curt Bailey said.
Bailey said Related Midwest has been looking to make over the site for months, and believes its location could draw fans from across Chicago.
"You're going to be able to attract the core of Chicago to that site, and they can get there quickly, and it's on the lake. So, all of those great things make it the right place for the Bears," he said.
Related Midwest said the site has existing infrastructure, plenty of parking, Metra access, and room for boat docks and water taxis. It called the property the only shovel-ready site of its size in the city. The company said a stadium and entertainment district would create thousands of jobs and allow Chicago to host the Super Bowl, concerts, and community events. It also said construction is already underway at the adjacent quantum park and at a new Advocate hospital.
Bailey promises the plan would also bring thousands of jobs and housing to the neighborhood, but the financing — including a potential public-private partnership — is still being worked out.
A video narrated by former Chicago Bear Lance Briggs makes the case for building the stadium on the South Side at the South Works site.
The Bears have said the former Arlington Park racetrack site in Arlington Heights, which they bought in 2023 for $197 million, and Hammond, Indiana, are their only current options for a new stadium.
In response to Related Midwest's plans, the Bears released the following statement in full:
"The Chicago Bears remain committed to building a world-class stadium and mixed-use district for our fans, the Chicagoland community and the team.
We continue to work collaboratively with local and state leaders in Indiana to advance our stadium development plans in Hammond, where we are finalizing due diligence details across two sites in the Wolf Lake area.
At the same time, we appreciate the recent engagement from Illinois leadership to explore legislation which has allowed us to share our feedback.
We expect productive dialogue with both leadership teams in the coming weeks. We have a responsibility and obligation to explore every option available to the club, and we look forward to developing a transformational project that will attract global events and deliver jobs and economic growth to all of Chicagoland."
Bailey said the talks underway on legislation to keep the Bears in Illinois could be used to bring the stadium to the former U.S. Steel site.
"As far as we understand it, the legislation getting put together in Springfield is site agnostic," Bailey said.
That could leave decisions about public investment to state and local leaders.
While Bailey isn't speaking for the Bears, he said they've been in talks for months about his plan.
"Anyone we meet with thinks that this is the right place for them, and we believe that as well," Bailey said.
Related Midwest said it believes the stadium could be ready for the 2032 season, but that timeline depends on legislation and financing.
At an unrelated press conference on Friday, Gov. JB Pritzker confirmed his staff had a meeting this week in Chicago with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren, Bears chairman George McCaskey, and Illinois legislative leaders, regarding potential stadium legislation in Springfield.
The meeting could signal renewed engagement on talks on potential legislation to help keep the team in Illinois as the Bears continue to explore options in both Illinois and Indiana.
Ten days out from the start of the legislature's fall veto session, Pritzker said Illinois lawmakers are hoping to have legislation ready for a vote by December.
"There is a bill that's being put together that gives the Bears the opportunity to choose where they want to build a stadium in Illinois, and then it's going to be up to them where it goes, and that's going to be a discussion with the Bears and legislatives," he said.
Pritzker said the goal is to be able to have hearings on potential stadium legislation during the first three days of veto session, from Nov. 17 to Nov. 19, and possibly a vote during the second three days of veto session, from Dec. 1 to Dec. 3.
Sports business expert Marc Ganis said talks have focused on a bill that would allow a municipality, including Arlington Heights or Chicago, to create a stadium financing authority to help build a publicly owned stadium
The Bears would finance construction of the stadium, while public funds would be used for new roads and other infrastructure that the state usually finances for such large-scale projects. Because the stadium would be publicly owned, it would not pay any property taxes, like the Bears' current stadium, Soldier Field, and the White Sox's ballpark, Rate Field.
Illinois is funding the quantum park with $500 million in state money, and construction was underway as of CBS Chicago's August report.
Other Chicago sites have also been floated, including a Bridgeport stadium concept that a Chicago architecture firm shared on social media.
