A South Loop ballpark for the White Sox, coupled with redevelopment of the surrounding area, could potentially yield billions of dollars in economic impact for Chicago, create thousands of jobs and draw 5 million visitors a year.
Those numbers and others — along with a slew of renderings of the new stadium — are part of the pitch developer Related Midwest is making for the 62-acre site called “The 78” that it owns at Clark and Roosevelt. The Sun-Times obtained the renderings and financial projections from Related Midwest on Wednesday.
That proposal — first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times — includes images of what Guaranteed Rate Field, where the team plays now, would look like if reconstructed as a soccer stadium in hopes of getting the Chicago Fire to move there.
The Illinois Sports Facilities Authority is the government agency that owns and financed Guaranteed Rate Field — and still must pay off about $50 million in debt on that ballpark, which opened in 1991.
Last week, officials with the authority were invited to a “high level” briefing on the plan with members of the White Sox and Related Midwest, the authority’s CEO, Frank Bilecki, told the Sun-Times on Wednesday.
“We’re encouraged that the conversation about the White Sox’s future in Chicago has begun and we look forward to further discussions,” Bilecki said.
In all, the package shows how the White Sox and Related Midwest hope to use flashy drawings and a rosy financial forecast to lay the groundwork for what they hope will be approval of a massive financing package this spring by the Illinois General Assembly.
Meanwhile, the vision for the Bridgeport area the Sox have called home for more than a century also includes 1,300 residences.
Ald. Nicole Lee (11th), who represents the neighborhood where the Sox play now, has been briefed on the proposal.
“We’re a long way from those renderings being a reality,” Lee said earlier this week. “And no matter what, there has to be redevelopment along 35th Street, to try to keep the Sox there or to attract somebody new. That’s where my focus is.”
Overall, Related Midwest is claiming the project will mean:
- A $9 billion investment.
- An economic impact of $4 billion a year.
- At least 10,000 construction jobs.
- At least 22,000 permanent jobs.
- 1,000 affordable housing units at The 78.
The 78 is one of Chicago’s largest undeveloped parcels — and the most strategically located. But it has eluded development for decades.
Once owned by convicted political power player Tony Rezko, it was one of several sites in the running for a Chicago casino now planned for River West.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker already has announced plans to use at least part of The 78 for a University of Illinois tech research center known as Discovery Partners Institute. That’s the only concrete project on the drawing board for The 78 — and according to Related Midwest, the claimed figures for permanent jobs and economic impact are for the fully developed site, including the institute.
Discovery Partners has been expected to use about 4 acres at the southern part of the site. Bill Jackson, executive director, said he has heard the White Sox could be interested and would make a great neighbor.
The Sun-Times has previously reported how the overall plan for The 78 is to use the ballpark as a catalyst for a multibillion-dollar development. Besides the affordable housing, it would have 4,000 other residential units, an office building, a hotel and dozens of restaurants and bars along a reinvigorated south riverfront.
Though Lee has said the offer looks too good for the Sox to pass up, she isn’t ready to get on board just yet.
“I need to engage this community about what it is their priorities are,” Lee said. “I don’t feel I’m in a position to say ‘This would be great’” without more input from constituents.
“This is not just about Bridgeport. The Sox being here on the South Side supports a lot of activity,” Lee added. “There isn’t anything for the Sox to compare it to now, because there isn’t a plan for what redevelopment would look like in Bridgeport. I’d like to present something like that to the White Sox to get them to stay, because we have a 114-year relationship with them.”
“That’s a big deal,” Lee said, “for them to move from what many consider to be their ancestral home.”
