CHICAGO | Will the Sox leave US Comiskular Rate Field?

[Rizzo]

So who will pay for all that?

[Randomguy34]

According to Bob Nightengale’s Sunday Notebook over at USA Today, Jerry Reinsdorf and the White Sox are currently exploring three sites for a potential move out of Guaranteed Rate Field after their lease ends in 2028:

The United Center area
Arlington Heights
Soldier Field

lol almost no one would make the trek to Arlington Heights just to watch us lose

[ChiND]

If the Sox move, I’d like to see them go near the United Center area.

[Chisouthside]

Is there enough space in the United Center lots to build a baseball stadium?

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by Chisouthside

Is there enough space in the United Center lots to build a baseball stadium?

Unless the Bulls/Hawks construct another arena elsewhere on those lots or completely elsewhere downtown or in the metro, I do not see enough room to build a baseball stadium as is.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

Unless the Bulls/Hawks construct another arena elsewhere on those lots or completely elsewhere downtown or in the metro, I do not see enough room to build a baseball stadium as is.

You could fit a park north or west of United Center. A little tight but doable.

[Rizzo]

Roughly measuring Sox park and its circulatory sidewalks, it’s like 850’ X 900’ almost if you don’t count the sky bridge portion. At United Center, there’s plenty of East-West distance across the street, but North-South dimensions are constrained. Ideally, the ballpark would need 3 city blocks (wide) and 1.5 city blocks (long) to easily fit within the grid. But that means closing additional streets much needed for vehicular circulation. If the UC moved north of Madison occupying 2 blocks and Sox park replaced the arena footprint plus the south lot it would all fit. What a logistical nightmare.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by Rizzo

Roughly measuring Sox park and its circulatory sidewalks, it’s like 850’ X 900’ almost if you don’t count the sky bridge portion. At United Center, there’s plenty of East-West distance across the street, but North-South dimensions are constrained. Ideally, the ballpark would need 3 city blocks (wide) and 1.5 city blocks (long) to easily fit within the grid. But that means closing additional streets much needed for vehicular circulation. If the UC moved north of Madison occupying 2 blocks and Sox park replaced the arena footprint plus the south lot it would all fit. What a logistical nightmare.

You can shrink the footprint some. Think my preference would be west of Damen. Monroe is already closed on the block east.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by k1052

You can shrink the footprint some. Think my preference would be west of Damen. Monroe is already closed on the block east.

How do you put it west of Damen without tearing down the neighborhood?

It would be very difficult to fit anywhere around there. Wrigley is 630' on a side and that is a tight fit anywhere around the UC, you'd have to vacate some streets and relocate others. Any modern stadium would be even larger and packed with entertainment options etc - 750' to 800' on a side.

The best option I think is to tear down the Advocate Center and build the baseball stadium east of the UC. Even this would not be easy, you'd have to vacate Wood St, push Madison to the north up against Warren, and push the Pink Line tracks east. But it would not kick anyone out of their homes.

I will humbly suggest the Damen Silos site... right off I-55, walkable to the Orange Line at Ashland, great skyline views, adjacent to the Sox historic stomping grounds in Bridgeport.

[MorganChi]

I just seen something from the real deal that stated that Reinsdorf purchase some land in which some church owns by the united center , give me a sec I can paste the link

[k1052]

Originally Posted by ardecila

How do you put it west of Damen without tearing down the neighborhood?

It would be very difficult to fit anywhere around there. Wrigley is 630' on a side and that is a tight fit anywhere around the UC, you'd have to vacate some streets and relocate others. Any modern stadium would be even larger and packed with entertainment options etc - 750' to 800' on a side.

The best option I think is to tear down the Advocate Center and build the baseball stadium east of the UC. Even this would not be easy, you'd have to vacate Wood St, push Madison to the north up against Warren, and push the Pink Line tracks east. But it would not kick anyone out of their homes.

I will humbly suggest the Damen Silos site... right off I-55, walkable to the Orange Line at Ashland, great skyline views, adjacent to the Sox historic stomping grounds in Bridgeport.

I'm not sure demoing a dozen or so small structures plus the HS necessarily equals "tearing down the neighborhood". Sox ownership would probably be pretty happy to have a Wrigley sized stadium if they could get even close to Wrigley sized attendance.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by MorganChi

I just seen something from the real deal that stated that Reinsdorf purchase some land in which some church owns by the united center , give me a sec I can paste the link

1727 W Adams And 125 S Wood?

https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2023...united-center/

Looks like it was purchased for more parking, and I doubt it has baseball stadium implications.

[Randomguy34]

White Sox VP Denies Team Close To Decision: Billions To Build New Ballpark ‘Doesn’t Fall Out Of The Sky’

With six years left on the team's lease at Guaranteed Rate Field, White Sox Vice President of Sales and Service Jim Willits said at Bisnow’s Chicago Retail, Entertainment & Sports Trends event Tuesday that it's natural to look at what is available to the organization. Every option is on the table, he said, but rumors the team has already put together a shortlist of potential sites is just idle talk.

“That might mean we’re still at Guaranteed Rate Field,” Willits told Bisnow in an interview. “It doesn’t mean we’re going to go. We’re talking about billions of dollars to build a ballpark. That money doesn’t fall out of the sky.”
....
In response to a report by USA Today reporter Bob Nightengale speculating that the team is considering moving to three sites — Soldier Field, Arlington Heights or the United Center — Willits dispelled the notion the team had moved that far along in its plans.

https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/...ecision-120451

[bhawk66]

.

[Randomguy34]

In a meeting with the city, the White Sox said the parking lots surrounding Guaranteed Rate Field would get redeveloped even if they leave:

The White Sox are also stressing that even if they abandon their century-long stay on 35th Street that the neighborhood won’t be left behind. The parking lots surrounding the stadium are ripe for a new mixed-use development with housing and green space, and there are slides depicting that vision.

And if Sox Park needs a new tenant, perhaps the Chicago Fire could be convinced to sign a lease, but the Fire have not been part of the discussions so far, sources say.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/poli...e-neighborhood

[Kngkyle]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

In a meeting with the city, the White Sox said the parking lots surrounding Guaranteed Rate Field would get redeveloped even if they leave:

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/poli...e-neighborhood

Probably more likely to get developed if they leave, considering they themselves have been the primary impediment to them getting developed in the first place...

[nomarandlee]

I don't remember reading these details before.....

https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-s...ar-development

South Loop would get more than a new White Sox stadium — think residences, a hotel, restaurants and more
Ald. Nicole Lee’s 11th Ward includes Bridgeport, where the Sox have played for more than a century. But after she was briefed Friday night, she said the plans for The 78 looked too good to pass up, though “it breaks my heart to think that the team could go anywhere but stay on 35th Street.”
By Fran Spielman and David Roeder Updated Jan 19, 2024

Also in the plans are 4,000 parking spaces beneath Roosevelt Road north of the stadium and, to the south, a school with thousands of students alongside a University of Illinois research center known as Discovery Partners Institute. The institute’s executive director, Bill Jackson, confirmed those were major elements of Related Midwest’s plans....

..

[moorhosj1]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

a school with thousands of students alongside a University of Illinois research center known as Discovery Partners Institute.

This piece of information makes me think this plan has actual legs. There have been fights over potential locations for a South Loop/Chinatown high school for years. Placing it next to the DPI would be great for students and highly accessible.

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by moorhosj1

This piece of information makes me think this plan has actual legs. There have been fights over potential locations for a South Loop/Chinatown high school for years. Placing it next to the DPI would be great for students and highly accessible.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/01...-need-to-know/

[r18tdi]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/01...-need-to-know/

Someone remind me please, why is the plan to build a new Near South Side high school "controversial?"