Bears CEO says lakefront ‘best’ stadium site, but leaves door open for Arlington Heights

While maintaining that downtown Chicago is the “best” site for a new Bears stadium, team President and CEO Kevin Warren said Wednesday architects are designing a venue that is “agnostic” to location, including Arlington Heights.

Blueprints being drawn up by David Manica, who designed Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, will “create an environment for our fans to really enjoy the Chicago Bears, and to be able to attract” mega events like the Super Bowl, Final Four, college football playoffs and concerts, Warren said.

So could that design work on the lakefront, or at the 326-acre Arlington Park property the Bears own?

“One of the things we’ve tried to do is to build a stadium from an agnostic standpoint,” Warren told reporters at a news conference outside London, ahead of the Bears game Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “You want to build a great building.”

When pressed if the plans in development are concurrent for both the Chicago and Arlington Heights sites, Warren repeated an oft-used phrase since unveiling the proposed $4.7 billion lakefront stadium and redevelopment in the spring.

“The Museum Campus is the focus,” he said.

Warren took the job as fifth president in the NFL franchise’s history in early 2023, just as the team was closing on its $197.2 million purchase of the shuttered racetrack from Churchill Downs. The deal was initiated by Warren’s predecessor Ted Phillips, who revealed plans for a $5 billion stadium and mixed-use redevelopment of the sprawling property two years ago.

Warren was asked why his current proposal for a publicly-owned city stadium overrides the first plan for a suburban stadium and surrounding redevelopment controlled by the Bears.

“I wouldn’t say it’s overriding. … Because every piece of land, every location is not the same. And I’m one of those individuals that looks at the benefits of every location,” he said. “You look at the Museum Campus. It has attributes that don’t exist anywhere in the world.

“Arlington Heights has attributes that are really unique,” Warren added. “You have 326 acres split by a river. There’s things that you can do there from a mixed-use development. But I always look at it — it’s no different than a game plan in football — what are the positive attributes.”

Yes, the Museum Campus is not 326 acres, Warren acknowledged.

“There’s things you won’t be able to do that you could do in other locations,” he said. “But when you look at the benefits of Chicago and what’s it mean, it’s just different.”

While referencing the most recent home game at Soldier Field — just north of where Warren wants to build a new stadium — he called the lakefront “the most beautiful piece of land in the world.”

While architects and consultants continue work on the stadium design — even featured in a scene in the recent “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Chicago Bears” HBO series — Warren and his team of lobbyists continue to press the flesh.

He said he’s had meetings with key politicians, staying in close touch with officials at Chicago City Hall — where Mayor Brandon Johnson gave the city stadium plan his full-throated endorsement — and Gov. JB Pritzker’s office.

Pritzker has said it would be “near impossible” for Bears-backed legislation awarding state subsidies for a new stadium to get done until the spring, and he’s called the team’s proposal a “nonstarter.”

Warren noted the upcoming “political milestones”: the General Assembly’s fall veto session that begins Nov. 12, followed by a session in January.

“I’m focused on making sure that we structure the best financial deal for all parties involved,” Warren said. “I don’t look at these negotiations as a winner and a loser. I look at it collectively — what can we do collectively — what’s in the best interests of the state of Illinois, downtown Chicago, the Chicago Bears, the National Football League. All those things are combined.”

Warren said he still hopes to start construction in 2025.