Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Could Bears Affiliation with One Central Development be a Tell That They're Staying at Soldier Field?

Streetsblog Chicago has an in-depth overview of a public meeting that the One Central development team recently held.  We still question how real this project is, but one relatively small piece that we found interesting was this comment about the Bears:  

Since Soldier Field does not host retail establishments, One Central is partnering with the Bears to allow them to run several restaurants and memorabilia and gift shop for attendees and tourists. If Landmark Development is this far along in a partnership with the Bears, that calls into question the Bears’ supposed interest in relocating from Soldier Field to Arlington Heights.

It wouldn't be crazy for the Bears to keep their options open and stay engaged on both fronts.  That said, we recently pondered how the city could find ways for the Bears to generate more revenue since Soldier Field is the smallest NFL stadium.  At some point, we wonder if the city could use One Central as a carrot to keep the Bears downtown.

The plot continues to thicken.

No comments: