A $10 billion Bears stadium plan for the Michael Reese site would replace up to 1,000 apartments. The 4th Ward town hall is today

Developers unveiled a $10 billion plan Thursday for a 75,000-seat domed Chicago Bears stadium on about 100 acres around the former Michael Reese Hospital site in Bronzeville, Block Club Chicago reported. Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th) holds a town hall on it from 4:30 to 6 p.m. today at Prairie Shores, the apartment complex at 2937 S. King Drive that the plan would partly replace.

Why it matters: the plan would demolish as many as 1,000 existing apartments, and it reaches for public money and state help that lawmakers could take up as soon as next week. The Bears have not endorsed it.

What's proposed

Capri Investment Group founder Quintin Primo III and GRIT Chicago, the group developing Bronzeville Lakefront, announced it. Per Block Club:

• A publicly owned domed stadium, more than 5,000 homes including affordable, senior and student housing, about 2,000 hotel rooms, a 28-acre park, a youth sports complex and expanded McCormick Place convention space.
• A new 29th Street Metra station and a new CTA Green Line station.
• A bigger footprint than the $3.2 billion concept shown in March 2025: it adds Prairie Shores and air rights over the McCormick Place rail yard, which the developers say answers the Bears' concern about fitting a stadium next to active tracks.
• Financing from private investment, the Bears, possible Illinois Sports Facilities Authority bonds and public infrastructure money. No public dollar figure has been released.

The apartments

The developers pledged 1,500 replacement units, built before existing ones come down, plus priority access, five years of rent protections and extra help for long-term tenants, a resident committee and an independent monitor. They said those details still have to be written into enforceable agreements.

Robinson said he backs the plan as long as current residents aren't hurt, and that "its success must also be measured by how we protect existing residents," Block Club reported.

Where others stand

• The Bears didn't respond to Block Club and have previously dismissed the site. The developers said they'd buy the team's Arlington Heights land if that investment is in the way.
• The Mayor's office said Johnson will hear proposals but any plan needs scrutiny and community support, and that "Chicago is and should remain the home of the Bears."
• Springfield: Gov. JB Pritzker has said stadium legislation could get a vote in the fall veto session, which runs Nov. 17 to 19 and Dec. 1 to 3, WTTW reported. Earlier stadium bills have failed.

What our records add

The City sold the land for this project. In July 2021 the Council approved the negotiated sale of the former Michael Reese campus to GRIT Chicago for Bronzeville Lakefront (SO2021-2897) and an infrastructure agreement covering City-owned improvements including a park along 31st Street (SO2021-2898). Both passed 49 to 0 with one member absent. The developers say they'll file an updated infrastructure plan with the City by Dec. 14 under that existing process. A stadium would likely also need zoning changes, which reach the Council through its Zoning Committee.

The other concept. In October we looked at an architecture firm's renderings of a domed Bears stadium on the Rate Field site in the 11th Ward, and what the City would have to approve (our story).

Robinson's race. He is the only candidate who filed in the 4th Ward for February (ward page). He has 100% attendance on key roll calls and voted with the majority on 92.2% of divided votes.

What's next

• Today, 4:30 p.m.: Robinson's town hall at Prairie Shores.
• Nov. 17 to 19: the veto session's first week.
• Dec. 14: the developers' target for an updated infrastructure plan.