CHICAGO | The 78 Site

[VKChaz]

from yesterday:

South Loop would get more than a new White Sox stadium — think residences, a hotel, restaurants and more

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

[Ahoi]

After the casino project was canceled here, a stadium is now being proposed. I think that a stadium is more likely to be built here than a casino.

My suggestion would be different with lots of public open spaces, parks, a complete riverside promenade and a few small fountains. In the center, a small European-style building with a park (interrupted by the street) down to the river. In the background are a few skyscrapers in the historic still that would be over 700 feet tall.

And this would be the small building that could also function as a tourist attraction, the old Xie Qiqu and this is the original floor plan.

[Randomguy34]

Ald. Dowell has given her blessing for the plan. The question now is, how will this be financed? The 78 already secured $700 million in TIF so I doubt the city will want to give them additional money, and Pritzker doesn't seem keen on having the state fund the stadium.

South Loop alderman throws support behind new White Sox stadium after developer meeting
https://www.chicagotribune.com/polit...qpm-story.html

[ithakas]

It would be nice if the LaSalle Street Metra station could open an entrance off Polk Street – it would be just a couple blocks away from the stadium.

I also think Financial Place or LaSalle between Polk and Harrison could make for interesting pedestrian-only streets. Financial Pl. is mostly a long surface parking lot that could be turned into a cool commercial development to serve the thousands of fans six months a year who might be waiting for a Metra back out of the city.

[Randomguy34]

Looks like stadiums are as-of-right in the PD, so they won't need City Council's approval for another zoning change:

There’s another perk to building a stadium at The 78: the Planned Development, a zoning package that guides the scope of development within the area, was approved by the City Council in 2019 for Related Midwest and already allows a stadium by right. So if the Sox were to make the move from their current home at Guaranteed Rate Field, the team would not need to clear those zoning hurdles.

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

[r18tdi]

Wow. Are the Dearborn Park neighbors melting down yet? I assume they've started some petitions, FB groups, etc?

[ducttape]

View from inside stadium?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

Looks like stadiums are as-of-right in the PD, so they won't need City Council's approval for another zoning change:

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

That's insane. This is why you hire a good zoning lawyer, folks...

Originally Posted by ithakas

It would be nice if the LaSalle Street Metra station could open an entrance off Polk Street – it would be just a couple blocks away from the stadium.

I also think Financial Place or LaSalle between Polk and Harrison could make for interesting pedestrian-only streets. Financial Pl. is mostly a long surface parking lot that could be turned into a cool commercial development to serve the thousands of fans six months a year who might be waiting for a Metra back out of the city.

They should just open a new Metra stop at 15th right next to the stadium. As I mentioned upthread, this is probably a better use of money than a Red Line stop if The 78 is gonna be a stadium village instead of an office district. It looks like the 5000 new apartments will be pushed north where they will have an easy walk to the Roosevelt stop, and a lot of baseball fans will come in from the burbs. New subway station: $500M at least, new Metra stop: $30M.

[Bonsai Tree]

Why not have both? Lasalle St currently only serves the RI Line- which has a pretty big Southside catchment area, but it's not the only line that Sox fans will come in on.

Also- look at the rendering again. The current plan seems to have the stadium in the middle of the site. Not sure where you got the idea that the residential will be pushed to the north either-seems to me like it's evenly spread out N/S from the rendering. Also a stop at 15th street would be considerably closer than Roosevelt for fans at the stadium, people working at the new DPI and the residential / office towers around it

[Klippenstein]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

Why not have both? Lasalle St currently only serves the RI Line- which has a pretty big Southside catchment area, but it's not the only line that Sox fans will come in on.

I think the reason was pretty clear, money. Personally, I think whether or not a CTA stop is built, they should consider including a stop for the ME trains since the ultimate plan is to use the St Charles Airline bridge to connect McCormick and Union Station.

If you were to do that, you’d have a huge catchment area from the suburbs and the city. It would increase capacity a lot. Though they would probably need to reconfigure the tracks so the ME connector is elevated, which could raise the price significantly.

In all honestly, they have the opportunity to do all three here, which is a unique opportunity. They wouldn’t be fudging it like One Central. Plus it would really give a boost to this development that is much realistic currently than any plan One Central comes up with and in the long run once the 78 is built out and thriving it makes One Central more likely to be built IMO.

So if they’re going to go all out, they need to at least explore the idea of incorporating a ME station.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree

Why not have both? Lasalle St currently only serves the RI Line- which has a pretty big Southside catchment area, but it's not the only line that Sox fans will come in on.

Also- look at the rendering again. The current plan seems to have the stadium in the middle of the site. Not sure where you got the idea that the residential will be pushed to the north either-seems to me like it's evenly spread out N/S from the rendering. Also a stop at 15th street would be considerably closer than Roosevelt for fans at the stadium, people working at the new DPI and the residential / office towers around it

By the time the stadium opens, the SouthWest Service will be re-routed to LaSalle in addition to the Rock Island (work is ongoing at 75th St to build the new connection). So that's two train lines, serving a big piece of the south side and south burbs.

The problem with the Red Line is that Sox fans can already use it at 35th, but they mostly don't. Realistically, the Red Line serves mostly South Side neighborhoods where people don't have disposable income to go to baseball games. That won't change when the Red Line is extended to 130th, either.

[Chi-Sky21]

Those red line trains are packed after games. Well, if the Sox are doing well that is. It is all relative.

[ChiSoxRox]

Originally Posted by ducttape

View from inside stadium?

Dear God, Allah, Buddha, the ghost of Studs Terkel, let this be built.

[lakeshoredrive]

If the Sox Stadium will be built in the 78, maybe we can get that observation tower revised and built! lol

[Randomguy34]

MLB’s Commissioner Rob Manfred was interview by Crain's and said the new stadium will not be finaced by new taxes. This matches with what sources told Crain's a few days, where the Sox will instead ask an extension of their existing bonds from ISFA to cover the costs of the new stadium.

The head of Major League Baseball says he’s all in for a White Sox proposal to build a new stadium on The 78 property on the southwest edge of the Loop — and he believes it can be financed with “no new taxes.”
....
Manfred said he’s not familiar with all the details of the proposed new facility, such as what sort of architectural era it might evoke, but said Reinsdorf has assured him it would require “no new taxes.”

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/spor...te-sox-stadium

Sources familiar with what the team is planning, but who say they are not free to speak about the deal, have told Crain’s that the White Sox are likely to ask state legislators to empower the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority to either extend or issue new bonds backed by the existing 2% hotel occupancy tax currently used to satisfy the bonds issued to pay for Guaranteed Rate Field.

While that would not raise a new tax, because the hotel occupancy tax is already in place, state legislators may still turn up their noses at extending or issuing new bonds, or providing any public dollars to help build a stadium for a team whose value is measured in billions.

https://www.chicagobusiness.com/poli...ed-sox-stadium

[BearTackle]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

Those red line trains are packed after games. Well, if the Sox are doing well that is. It is all relative.

What I like is that the new stadium is close to all the trains in the Loop, so I will just be taking the Brown Line there, which will ease the packed Red Line trains.

[nomarandlee]

Gotta love the marketing PR by MLB and the White Sox.

"No new taxes!! We are so magnanimous we will just ask to continue a tax that shouldn't have even been implemented in the first place!...."

I hope that city and state will renegotiate better terms this time around. Very generally, I don't think that public funding has been as lucrative for most stadium deals in the last decade as it was. JR needs to put more skin in the game. Or else he can take the team to Charlotte or Portland.

[jpIllInoIs]

Originally Posted by nomarandlee

Gotta love the marketing PR by MLB and the White Sox.

"No new taxes!! We are so magnanimous we will just ask to continue a tax that shouldn't have even been implemented in the first place!...."

I hope that city and state will renegotiate better terms this time around. Very generally, I don't think that public funding has been as lucrative for most stadium deals in the last decade as it was. JR needs to put more skin in the game. Or else he can take the team to Charlotte or Portland.

Yep No New Taxes is not the same as No New Bonds, financed by the tax payers. Look for McPier Authority to weigh in soon.

\ EDIT No new taxes...for Reinsdorf. Look for the land and property abatements beaucoup wazoo!



But I like the project anyway.. I hope to see dimensional renderings of a stadium built for an urban space that has picular angles and sightlines only available to this locale.
Also talk about the missing link for entertainment , cultural institutions. Walking dist to McMck, wintrust, MotorRow, Chinatown and South Loop!!!

[west-town-brad]

Do they not want to own the new stadium like the Ricketts own Wrigley?

[nomarandlee]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

Do they not want to own the new stadium like the Ricketts own Wrigley?

I think JR feels that he can get more public financing if the city/state technically own the stadium. The amount the Sox paid annually on the lease the last 30 years has been a pittance as far as I understand it. Even just the land acquisition would probably cost more than the cumulative lease at the 78 if the current lease terms are anything to go by.

JR gets to up the value of the club with a new park he gets to be a tenant at with the city/state paying all the upfront expenses, taxes, and park upgrades down the road. He gets to invest earnings in more tangible growth assets instead of maintaining a single-use facility. He will likely try to rob the city/state again on any parking and concession proceeds as well.