The Bears have closed on the $197.2 million purchase of the shuttered 326-acre Arlington Park property -- "a milestone in the charter NFL franchise's long-sought city-to-suburbs relocation,"reports the Chicago Daily Herald.
But in an open letter to the community released Wednesday afternoon, the Bears "caution that the land buy doesn't mean their vision for a $5 billion redevelopment of the shuttered racetrack site -- highlighted by a domed stadium -- is a done deal." The final deal with Churchill Downs Inc. was signed around 17 months ago.
Today's development "comes as the Bears try to shore up support" in the state legislature "for a new financing mechanism that would give the team a massive property tax break -- which has already prompted resistance from local school districts."
Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes "called the Bears' closing a 'major milestone' in a process that's spanned a year-and-a-half, but acknowledged there's much due diligence still to be done by the team and the village." The Bears on Wednesday also "doubled down on their ask for public assistance for the project: funds for infrastructure like roads and water drainage, and 'property tax certainty.'"
