The Chicago Fire Football Club will move to a new stadium in “The 78,” but could that new home also feature another Chicago sports team?
As of the latest announcement Tuesday, plans for “The 78” include more than just a stadium. While the Fire’s arena appears to anchor the space, plans include creating an entirely new Chicago neighborhood, with housing, dining, retail and more.
It’s also the same site where The Chicago White Sox were considering building a new stadium. So are those plans thwarted?
Here’s what to know:
What is ‘The 78’?
The soon-to-be developed Chicago neighborhood, in the South Loop, sits on Roosevelt along the Chicago River. The name for the new neighborhood, “The 78,” was given its name to reference Chicago’s 77 officially defined “community areas.”
“Set along an unprecedented half-mile of riverfront, The 78 is 62 acres framed by Roosevelt Road, Clark Street, Chinatown’s Ping Tom Park and the Chicago River,” a website for The 78 said. “From this site will rise Chicago’s most connected, progressive, forward-thinking neighborhood – ever.”
The area for The 78 was originally created from a landfill project to straighten the South Branch of the Chicago River that ran from the 1910s to the 1920s. At this time, the space was used as a rail yard. According to “The 78”’s development website, in the 1970s the rail lines were removed and the space was vacant by 1977.
The new area would feature considerable public transit access, according to developer Related Midwest with three CTA lines stopping right at Roosevelt and State Street, just a couple of blocks east of the property: the Red, Green and Orange Lines.
What to know about the new Chicago Fire stadium
The new “world-class, soccer-specific” stadium in the South Loop is meant to anchor the new neighborhood. Exact details on the location were not provided.
The new, open-air stadium will seat 22,000 fans, the announcement said, with the initial phase of construction scheduled for fall 2025 or early 2026. It’s expected to open in 2028, ahead of the MLS regular season.
The Fire moved out of SeatGeek Stadium in suburban Bridgeview after the 2019 season, returning to Soldier Field since the beginning of 2020. Soldier Field had been the team’s home for the first four years of its existence, but then the club began bouncing between venues before settling in at SeatGeek Stadium in 2006.
The announcement also comes amid previous reports that The Chicago White Sox were aiming to build a new stadium at the same site. The most recent report said the move could take place after the expiration of the team’s lease at Rate Field, which ends following the 2029 season.
It also comes as the Chicago Bears continue talks for a new stadium, which have shifted once again from the city to suburban Arlington Heights. The team bought the village’s now-shuttered Arlington Park racecourse, in for nearly $200 million in 2023, but a property tax dispute stalled their plans. A recent statement from the team says the Bears now “intend to prioritize” the suburban site following challenges with a potential lakefront location.
What will the Chicago Fire announcement mean for the White Sox?
The team said in a statement that active talks for moving to the space are still ongoing.
“Related Midwest first approached the White Sox about building a new ballpark on a piece of property they were developing, and we continue to consider the site as an option,” the statement read. “We believe in Related Midwest’s vision for The 78 and remain confident the riverfront location could serve as a home to both teams. We continue to have conversations with Related Midwest about the site’s possibilities and opportunities.”
Last year, renderings for a proposed riverside stadium in “The 78” for the White Sox were released.
A move to The 78 would see the White Sox leave their longtime neighborhood for the first time. Reports had earlier indicated the Sox were considering constructing a new stadium for after the team’s lease at Guaranteed Rate Field expires following the 2029 season.
What else is in The 78?
Plans for the mixed-use, $7 billion neighborhood include seven acres of green space, a five-acre sports part, entertainment, retail, housing, dining and more, the site showed.
Former Chicago mover and shaker Tony Rezko bought the land in 2001 and had plans for mixed-use development, but those plans never went anywhere. Development group Related Midwest bought the property in 2016.
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