CHICAGO | The 78 Site

[munchymunch]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Hopefully they stay in Chicago.

They will. They (him and his brother) have been really good owners for the Suns and he lives in Winnetka.

[MorganChi]

Originally Posted by sentinel

Hopefully they stay in Chicago.

The new owner is from the Chicago land area and allegedly a Sox fan they will stay

[moorhosj1]

What about the Sox at the Michael Reese location? I'd rather they just develop the area around 35th, but Michael Reese is available.

[nomarandlee]

I can't help but think the Fire/78 news lit a burner under both JR and Ishbia's backsides to not get completely shut out of the 78. Maybe they even want to throw a wrench in the plans and try to move in on the preferred spot in the 78 in the next few weeks? I wouldn't be surprised. I would think the north side of the parcel would be far preferable to the southern end of the 78 to locate a stadium. Would such a scenario scuttle the deal with the Fire? Perhaps, but a 2 billion dollar baseball park with 81 games would be a better catch for Related than a $600 million soccer pitch.

While Soldier Field, Arlington Heights, and MR remain sites where the Sox could build a new park in the next five years, I think their original idea for the 78 has the best upside, overall. The 78 plan is the move to the South Loop the Sox should have made 35 years ago. JR just either doesn't have the stomach or the funds to finance the park at the 78. With Ishbia now being all but assured of taking the reins as next-in-line owner, he may be willing to finance (or all?) of a new park at the 78.

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

I can't help but think the Fire/78 news lit a burner under both JR and Ishbia's backsides to not get completely shut out of the 78. Maybe they even want to throw a wrench in the plans and try to move in on the preferred spot in the 78 in the next few weeks? I wouldn't be surprised. I would think the north side of the parcel would be far preferable to the southern end of the 78 to locate a stadium. Would such a scenario scuttle the deal with the Fire? Perhaps, but a 2 billion dollar baseball park with 81 games would be a better catch for Related than a $600 million soccer pitch. .

The White Sox stadium doesn't actually fit at the North end of the parcel. At least not very well. So very little chance of the Chicago Fire being forced out. But if the White Sox want some input about the location of other structures besides the stadium, well it's last call.


The Fire stadium is probably similar in scope to the casino proposition. So not tremendous overlap with the White Sox.

[Jstange059]

So is both the White Socks and Chicago fire now going to be fighting over the 78? I'll be cheering for whichever side isn't asking for taxpayer funding. We shouldn't be giving billions to billionaires, especially when we have things as crucial as the transit system lacking funding. Maybe one of them can get Bronzeville Lakefront or Lincoln Yards?

[lakeshoredrive]

Originally Posted by Jstange059

So is both the White Socks and Chicago fire now going to be fighting over the 78? I'll be cheering for whichever side isn't asking for taxpayer funding. We shouldn't be giving billions to billionaires, especially when we have things as crucial as the transit system lacking funding. Maybe one of them can get Bronzeville Lakefront or Lincoln Yards?

No I think the Chicago Fire has an agreement with Related. White Sox already missed their window of opportunity.

[Bonsai Tree]

Pat Dowell went on a podcast earlier this week and said she wasn't supportive of two stadiums at the 78. Basically poured cold water on the Sox. And I tend to agree- I'd rather have a neighborhood crop up around a fire stadium than it just become another sports complex with no identity. The Sox f'd up and need to make Bridgeport work (which it totally could- they just choose not to).

[sentinel]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

Pat Dowell went on a podcast earlier this week and said she wasn't supportive of two stadiums at the 78. Basically poured cold water on the Sox. And I tend to agree- I'd rather have a neighborhood crop up around a fire stadium than it just become another sports complex with no identity. The Sox f'd up and need to make Bridgeport work (which it totally could- they just choose not to).

This. But I also doubt Reinsdorf actually ever intended to build anything at the 78, it was a fancy pipe dream, nothing more.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Construction is expected to begin by the end of 2026. Sounds like they're leaving the Metra tracks alone then?

Unclear about the Metra tracks. It's hard to tell from the rendering how the stadium is sited. There are security concerns about putting a grandstand over active railroad tracks too.

Related's position has always been that the tracks need to move to allow access into the site from Clark St at 15th. Abandoning that idea means you can ONLY access the site at the far north and south ends, which is terrible for traffic but also for fire dept access.

I think the site plan will still allow the Metra tracks to be moved in the future. The quoted seat count for the Fire stadium is 22,000 which is the same as Energizer Park in St Louis... dropping that footprint onto the site, you can fit without moving the tracks and still preserve some room for the tracks to move later:

[r18tdi]

Also, according to YIMBY, Gensler is the architect of the Fire FC stadium. I suspect we'll be getting much better renderings at some point.

[Randomguy34]

Virtual Town Hall Meeting
Monday, June 16th: 6:00-8:00pm

Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...#/registration

[r18tdi]

Someone tune in Monday and post screenshots please

[Jstange059]

Originally Posted by r18tdi

Someone tune in Monday and post screenshots please

I’ll be there

[BVictor1]

[lakeshoredrive]

Stadium design is decent

[Jstange059]

Stadium should have 22000 seats
They estimate 5000 housing units will be provided on the site but would love to increase this if financing allows
The previous plans for the red line station on the site is canceled

[lakeshoredrive]

Any mention of a Metra station possibly opening there?

[swipyfox]

Damn the red line station got cancelled, not surprised looking at the current state of the CTA. With the lack of transit connection, I envision another soldier field situation where its difficult to access without a car.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by lakeshoredrive

Any mention of a Metra station possibly opening there?

Nope, they're leaning pretty heavily into the existing Roosevelt CTA stop for any and all public transportation. Which is not a bad thing, it's a major transfer station with 3 rail lines and it's only 1700' from the station to the stadium gate, this is a third of the current walk to Soldier Field. They also mentioned in the Q+A that Phase I will have ~2000 parking spots in an underground garage, with more available across the street in Roosevelt Collection.

I think Related is terrified that if they ask for any serious taxpayer money for transportation, they'll get completely rejected. In the presentation I don't think they identified any a single project they would use the TIF for, except maybe the seawall along the river.

Curt Bailey kept bringing up water taxis, but that isn't a serious transportation option considering their largest boat only holds 150 people, which is less than two CTA articulated buses. Apparently Mansueto loves the idea that fans can have a rally at Pioneer Court/Wrigley Building (also owned by Mansueto ofc) then float down the river to a game... nice idea, but just not practical for more than a handful of fans.