CHICAGO — The Chicago White Sox, like the Bears, have been exploring options for building a new stadium and how such a project wound be funded.
With debate swirling this week over how much public money would be used to fund a new Bears stadium on Chicago’s lakefront, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf is apparently trying to sweeten the pot with his wallet for his own team’s stadium project, according to a report this week by Crain’s Chicago Business.
A source close to Reinsdorf, the report says, told Crain’s the White Sox owner is now proposing to help pay for a new ballpark in the South Loop on “The 78,” an undeveloped 62-acre parcel of land at Roosevelt Road and Clark Street, just south of downtown Chicago.
In February, Crain’s reported that Reinsdorf was pursuing around $1 billion in public funding from the city and state for a new ballpark at “The 78,” so named for its potential to become Chicago’s 78th neighborhood.
However, Crain’s latest report says a source told the publication “we never said there would not be White Sox investment in the potential development.”
The Chicago Sun-Times first reported in January the White Sox were in serious discussions to build a new ballpark at “The 78.”
Like the Bears’ new stadium plans, those of the White Sox have since sparked debate over how stadiums for privately-owned professional sports franchises should be funded.
The White Sox have played in the Bridgeport neighborhood on the city’s South Side for over 100 years. Its lease at Guaranteed Rate Field, where the White Sox have played since 1991, expires after the 2029 season.
Tax revenues
The Crain’s report from February said Reinsdorf and Related Midwest — the developer that owns “The 78” — proposed paying for the new ballpark by using various tax revenues, including a 2% hotel occupancy tax. Sales tax revenue in that plan would allow the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA) to borrow more money, the report said, allowing the White Sox to reach roughly $1.2 billion in assistance sought by Reinsdorf to build the ballpark and retire the current ISFA debt.
The ISFA is a government entity created by the Illinois state legislature in 1987 for the purpose of constructing and renovating sports stadiums for professional sports teams in Illinois. It issued $150 million in bonds in 1989 to build Guaranteed Rate Field and later issued $399 million in bonds to pay for renovations to Soldier Field in 2003.
While the Bears and White Sox are pursuing separate means to finance new stadiums, they’ve often been tied together by city and state officials in discussions about stadium funding.
At the end of February, Crain’s reported, state legislators told the Bears and White Sox that if they each want stadiums in the city, they’ll need to team up to make it happen.
The Bears were set to hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon at Soldier Field unveiling their plans for a new lakefront stadium. There was no indication those plans would include anything related to funding for a new White Sox stadium.
However, a Chicago Tribune report Tuesday revealed the Bears would ask for $2.3 billion in public financing for a new lakefront stadium, along with refinancing outstanding debt from previous publicly-financed stadium projects for the Bears at Soldier Field and the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field.
