Chicago Bears stadium plan: $10B lakefront proposal pitched by developers

The Brief Developers unveiled a $10 billion Bronzeville Lakefront plan with a new domed stadium to keep the Chicago Bears in the city. The 100-acre district would include over 5,000 new housing units, hotels, a 28-acre park, and major transit upgrades. To sweeten the deal, investors offered to buy the Bears' Arlington Heights property while relying on public-private financing ahead of a key Springfield legislative session. CHICAGO - A group of developers on Thursday pitched a $10 billion plan to build a massive 100-acre housing, entertainment, and sports district in Bronzeville, anchored by a new domed stadium designed to keep the Chicago Bears from moving to the suburbs or Indiana. Capri Investment Group and GRIT Chicago announced the revised Bronzeville Lakefront proposal at Olivet Baptist Church, just five days before Illinois lawmakers return to Springfield to consider new legislation for public stadium financing. Chicago Bears stadium proposal The backstory: The proposed 11-million-square-foot development would combine the 48-acre former Michael Reese Hospital site with the Prairie Shores apartment complex and air rights over the McCormick Place Marshaling Yard. At the center of the district would be a 75,000-seat domed stadium connected to McCormick Place, capable of hosting Bears games, Super Bowls, Final Fours, and major concerts. To address past space concerns, preliminary designs place the 30- to 40-acre stadium complex without disrupting active rail lines. Image 1 of 4 ▼ Credit: Inference Beyond the stadium, the core elements of the proposal include: Housing: More than 5,000 mixed-income residential units on- and off-site, including at least 1,000 affordable and senior units, plus student housing. Two existing Prairie Shores towers would be kept and rehabilitated, while displaced units would be replaced at a 1.5-to-1 ratio with five-year rent protections. Hospitality and Commercial: Roughly 2,000 hotel rooms, 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurants, 400,000 square feet of office space, a 500,000-square-foot youth sports complex, and a 400,000-square-foot wellness center. Transit and Parks: A 28-acre public park, a land bridge over Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive, a proposed 29th Street Metra station, a new CTA Green Line station a half-mile away, and more than 3,500 structured parking spaces. Arlington Heights Buyout: Capri and its partners offered to buy the Bears’ Arlington Heights property if owning that land is keeping the team from seriously considering a Chicago site. Key figures By the numbers: $10 billion: Total projected cost of the Bronzeville Lakefront development. 75,000: Spectator capacity of the proposed domed stadium. 5,000+: New residential units planned across the district and surrounding South Side properties like Lake Meadows. 60,000: Estimated construction jobs created, alongside 11,000 permanent ongoing jobs. $135 million: Projected annual tax revenue generated by the district's housing, hotels, and retail. The development team plans to submit an updated infrastructure plan to the City of Chicago as part of the ongoing Bronzeville Lakefront review process. Primo said the immediate priority is bringing the Bears, the NFL, city and state officials, and neighborhood residents to the negotiating table while the Illinois General Assembly meets over the next two months to weigh stadium financing laws. Bringing the Chicago Bears to Bronzeville? Outgoing Congressman Danny Davis is urging the Chicago Bears to reconsider the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville for a new stadium, despite concerns raised by team officials. Bears' ongoing stadium search Big picture view: The Bears have spent years weighing a move away from Soldier Field, purchasing the former Arlington International Racecourse property in Arlington Heights while also exploring options in Hammond, Indiana. Meanwhile, state lawmakers in Springfield are preparing to debate legislation that would let municipalities form stadium authorities with long-term property tax certainty and expand Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds for infrastructure. The Bronzeville financing model mirrors the publicly owned Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It combines private capital with an upfront lease payment from the Bears—funded through naming rights, personal seat licenses, and NFL programs—alongside refinanced Illinois Sports Facilities Authority bonds to pay off existing Soldier Field debt, tax increment financing, and state infrastructure funds. What they're saying: Developers framed the project as a generational investment in the South Side rather than just a sports venue. "This is about much more than building a stadium or keeping a football team in Chicago," said Quintin E. Primo III, founder and executive chairman of Capri Investment Group. "Our vision is to make the Bears a catalyst for new housing, jobs, businesses and economic opportunity that will benefit Chicago long after the final whistle blows." Local leadership emphasized that any large-scale project must protect current residents and guarantee community jobs. "Bronzeville is one of Chicago's most historically significant communities, and its future deserves investment equal to that legacy," Ald. Lamont J. Robinson (4th) said in a statement. "But its success must also be measured by how we protect existing residents, ensure meaningful community participation and make certain that the people who live here share in those benefits." Looking ahead What's next: The development team plans to submit an updated infrastructure plan to the City of Chicago as part of the ongoing Bronzeville Lakefront review process. Primo said the immediate priority is bringing the Bears, the NFL, city and state officials, and neighborhood residents to the negotiating table while the Illinois General Assembly meets over the next two months to weigh stadium financing laws. The Source: The information in this report came from an official announcement and project proposal released by Capri Investment Group and GRIT Chicago. Bears Bronzeville News