Bears and suburban school districts are $100 million apart on value of Arlington Park

The Chicago Bears and three northwest suburban school districts are still far apart — $100 million to be exact — on their valuation of the former Arlington International Racecourse, potential site of a new team stadium.

Both sides presented their appraisals of the 326-acre property in Arlington Heights on Tuesday during a meeting of the Cook County Board of Tax Review.

An appraisal presented by Northwest Suburban High School District 214, Palatine Township Elementary District 15 and Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 put the value of the property at $160 million, according to a report in the Daily Herald.

But the Bears legal team presented two appraisals for the property; one for $60 million and another for $71 million. They argue the property should be assessed as vacant land as demolition of the grandstands is complete and the site continues to be unused.

The Bears have stressed that demolition does not mean the team will develop the property for a new stadium.

The final property value will determine how much the Bears pay in taxes to the schools and other taxing bodies.

Last year, former property owner Churchill Downs Inc. reached an agreement with the school districts on a reduced property tax bill of $7.8 million based on a valuation of $95 million.

The Bears said last January that “property tax certainty is necessary for the Arlington Park project to move forward.” A new stadium alone in Arlington Heights is estimated to cost at least $2.5 billion.

A decision on the 2023 reassessment by the three-member board of review could be weeks away, but comments and questions by the commissioners Tuesday indicated which way they’re leaning.

“It seems to be as if this property was targeted within the context of all the property valuations in the area,” Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. said of Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s July 2023 reassessment of the property at $197 million, which is roughly the same amount the Bears paid for it.

The Bears, who have played at Soldier Field since 1971, closed escrow on the Arlington Heights property last February. The team’s lease of Soldier Field, which is owned by the Chicago Park District, runs through 2033.

The ongoing dispute between the Bears and the school districts on the land’s property tax assessment has led other cities to attempt to lure the team away.

Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli sent the Bears a letter last May asking the team to discuss available properties in the west suburb. Waukegan officials have also reached out to the Bears.

The team has indicated it is open to entertaining proposals outside the Arlington Heights site.

Contributing: Tina Sfondeles, Patrick Finley