Chicago & Midwest + Greater Chicagoland + Hospitality | June 2, 2023

Arlington Park Arlington Heights IL sale to Chicago Bears Churchill Downs

Chicago Bears Plans for Arlington Heights Development are “at Risk”

Chicago Bears officials met with Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli Friday morning to discuss the possibility of abandoning plans for a new stadium development in Arlington Heights in favor of building it in Naperville, reported the Chicago Tribune.

Plans to build “the largest single development project in Illinois history” are “at risk” in Arlington Heights, the Bears said in a statement they released Friday in conjunction with their meeting.

The Cook County Assessor’s assessment of the former horsetrack, which is five times the 2021 tax value and three times higher than the recent assessment settlement for the Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky, fails to reflect that the property is not operational and not commercially viable in its current state, the statement said.

“We will continue the ongoing demolition activity and work toward a path forward in Arlington Heights, but it is no longer our singular focus,” team officials wrote.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).

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