Chicago & Midwest + North Side + Retail | June 7, 2021

The Chicago Fire soccer franchise has proposed a training facility on Chicago's Near West Side

Chicago Fire Soccer Franchise Plans $90M Training Facility in Belmont Cragin

The Chicago Fire Football Club is proposing to construct and operate a training facility, including a three-story performance center, at Hanson Park in the Northwest Side’s Belmont Cragin neighborhood. The approximately 32-acre project is projected to cost roughly $90 million.

In a draft presentation posted to the Chicago Department of Planning and Development website, the Joe Mansueto-owned soccer franchise said the facility would host both team training and development programs for school-age soccer players. It won’t host any professional home matches, according to the presentation.

The site, bounded by Fullerton, North, Grand and Central avenues, is owned by Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Cook County. The Fire plans to enter into a ground lease and shared use agreement with CPS.

JLL is serving as project manager, and Crawford Architects is serving as designer. The team will present its initial plans at a virtual town hall on June 10.

Rendering courtesy of Chicago Fire Football Club.

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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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