
Blackhawks Strike Deal for Fifth Third Arena Expansion
The Chicago Blackhawks have struck a deal with Rush University Medical Center to acquire a seven-acre site next to the team’s Fifth Third Arena hockey facility, where the team plans to build a $65-million, two-rink expansion of its Near West Side hockey venue, reported Crain’s Chicago Business.
The land sale agreement would spur a 135,000-square-foot development to double the size of the Hawks’ hockey complex on the block and add a new venue for the team and youth hockey players near the United Center.
Under the plan, the Blackhawks would pay $23.5 million for the site at 303 S. Damen Ave., immediately west of the existing Fifth Third Arena that opened in 2017. The deal needs the City Council’s sign-off because it changes the redevelopment plan the city agreed to in 2015, when it sold part of the former Malcolm X College property to Rush and the remainder to the Blackhawks.