SPRINGFIELD — White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf rounded the bases with Illinois legislative leaders on Tuesday at the Illinois State Capitol, but it’s too early to say if his public funding proposal for a new White Sox stadium in the South Loop amounted to a home run.
Reinsdorf met with Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, and Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, to discuss his ambitious ambitious proposal for a ballpark-anchored megadevelopment at the undeveloped plot known as “The 78” near Roosevelt Road and Clark Street.
The billionaire baseball mogul also met with House Republican Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savannah, and Senate Minority Leader John Curran, R-Downers Grove.
But it’s the Democratic supermajority leaders’ support Reinsdorf will need to land the reported $1 billion in taxpayer dollars he is seeking to overhaul the land controlled by Chicago megadeveloper Related Midwest.
Wearing a leather jacket and accompanied by five associates, Reinsdorf smiled and brushed aside most questions from reporters as he moved across the Capitol building between meetings with legislative leaders over the course of about three hours.
“It went very well, very pleasant, very nice,” Reinsdorf said after meeting with Welch. “I’m not in the business of predicting. … I hope he liked what we had to say.”
Sidestepping questions about what he asked for, Reinsdorf said, “everyone’s been very cordial. We’ve had very thoughtful discussions.
“I’m always positive about everything. I’m even positive about the White Sox winning the division,” he said of his team — which enters the 2024 season widely expected to be a bottom-dweller in the American League Central.
In a statement, Welch thanked Reinsdorf “for coming down to discuss his vision in person. There are a lot of conversations that still need to be had, but I appreciate the opportunity to discuss future goals for Chicago teams.”
Through a spokesman, Harmon said: “It’s still early innings.”
Yet to be briefed on the plan is Gov. J.B. Pritzker, who is scheduled to deliver his annual budget address on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Pritzker said no meeting with Reinsdorf was on the agenda, and the governor still hasn’t been briefed by the developer. The Chicago Democrat has been lukewarm on the prospect of putting taxpayer dollars into a stadium.
Reinsdorf is expected to seek about $1 billion in public money to help fund the project, according to a report in Crain’s Chicago Business.
At least some of those dollars could come through refinancing existing bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority that funded the construction of Guaranteed Rate Field in the early 1990s, after Reinsdorf threatened to move the team to St. Petersburg, Florida.
But Reinsdorf could also be vying for a taxing district around the stadium that would capture $400 million in state sales tax revenue for the development, Crain’s reported.
In a statement, a White Sox spokesman said “we recognize discussions about The 78 serving as the future home of the Chicago White Sox have generated a lot of excitement over the potential of the larger project’s positive economic impact. We are mindful and respectful of the legislative process and wanted to travel to Springfield to meet personally with legislative leaders.”
Also in Springfield was Related Midwest president Curt Bailey, who is swinging for the bleachers this time after a failed bid to bring a casino to The 78.
“We appreciated the time afforded to us by lawmakers in Springfield today,” a Related Midwest spokesperson said in a statement. “As we shared in the meetings, The 78 is a generational development and an investment in our hometown. It’s personal to us and we are excited about the prospect of delivering the city’s next great neighborhood, while making an historic economic investment that will bring over 10,000 construction jobs and 22,000 permanent jobs to our city and state.”
Legislators so far have shown little appetite for a massive infusion of taxpayer dollars.
“They did come with a lot of pretty pictures,” Welch told the Sun-Times earlier this month after meeting with Related Midwest. “They got people excited. Now, they’re going to have to answer the question of how they’re going to pay for it. I would imagine they’re going to have a menu of options they put out there because they know how this process works.”
The Chicago Bears are also expected to seek out a legislative fix this session, which concludes in late May, to fund a potential new stadium either in Arlington Heights or south of Soldier Field.
