The Tax Deal Setting the Clock on Arlington Park's 326 Acres

On September 25, 2021, Sister Ruler crossed the finish line first in the last race ever run at Arlington Park. She was a 7-year-old Illinois-bred mare, ridden by jockey Constantino Roman. John Dooley had called races from atop the grandstand since 2000. After the track closed he sold his place in Arlington Heights, and he now spends his summers at Horseshoe Indianapolis and his winters at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans.

The Daily Herald marked the five-year anniversary on September 24 by calling the land at Euclid Avenue and Wilke Road "barren." The story about that land is usually told through Springfield votes and Indiana site visits. The document that best predicts what happens next is a property-tax agreement the village approved in December 2024. It ties the Bears' payment on the site to filings at Arlington Heights Village Hall, and it puts dates on them.

The Grandstand Came Down for Tax Reasons

Days after that final race, Churchill Downs Inc. announced it planned to sell the property to the Bears. The team closed the $197.2 million deal in 2023. Demolition of the six-story grandstand ramped up in August 2023, and by the end of that year the structure was rubble. The Daily Herald reported that the teardown came out of the team's desire to cut its property tax bill.

Taking the building down set up the agreement that followed. The memorandum of understanding between the Bears, the village and the local school districts values the property at $124.7 million and treats it as unimproved land. It is assessed at 10% instead of the usual 25% commercial level. Under that formula the Bears pay $3.6 million a year from 2024 through 2027. The village board approved it 8-0 on December 9, 2024. By March 2025 the Bears and the school-district boards had signed off as well.

Three school districts are party to the deal. Elementary District 15 covers the whole site. The high-school boundary splits the site between District 214 and District 211.

How the Agreement Keeps Time

The $3.6 million payment holds only as long as the Bears keep moving the project forward. The agreement sets it up in stages:

1. 2024 through 2027: a fixed $3.6 million each year.
2. 2028 through 2030: the same $3.6 million, but only if the Bears submit zoning plans by December 31, 2027.
3. 2031 until construction begins: the same amount again, but only if the Bears apply for building permits by December 31, 2030.
4. If a deadline passes without a filing: payments rise with inflation, within the agreement's 2% to 5% range.

So the first time the Bears' plans for Arlington Park have to show up as paperwork in Arlington Heights is a little under 15 months away. That date has nothing to do with the legislative calendar. It holds no matter which way Springfield or Hammond goes.

For scale, the Cook County treasurer's office published an analysis in May 2026 of the megaprojects proposal then pending. It estimated that if the Bears negotiated a $10 million payment in lieu of taxes, a deal known as a PILOT, their annual property-tax savings could top $39 million. That is a hypothetical figure, not an agreed one. The gap between that figure and the current $3.6 million interim payment explains why the Bears describe their goal as "property tax certainty."

Why Springfield Keeps Coming Up Short

On April 22, 2026, the Illinois House passed HB 910 by a vote of 78 to 32. Its megaproject provision would have let large developments negotiate PILOT terms tied to how much they invest:

The House version sent half of the PILOT money to property-tax relief. Sixty percent of that half would have gone to homeowner rebates in the affected districts. WBEZ later reported that those rebates were deemed "negligible." The Senate passed a separate bill that would have let municipalities create their own stadium authorities, but it never came to a vote in the House. The Bears turned down both measures and still haven't said publicly what they would accept.

The spring session ended without a bill reaching the governor. In a June 1 statement, Mayor Jim Tinaglia called it "clearly a fumble for the State of Illinois." That was the second miss in a row. The village says the Bears paused their traffic study in fall 2025, after the megaprojects legislation failed in that year's veto session.

From Hammond Back to a Chicago Conference Room

On June 5, the Bears announced that their board had voted to move forward with a stadium project in Hammond, Indiana. They did not pick a final site. The village said it accepted that direction. In the same statement, Tinaglia called the 326 acres "a highly viable redevelopment site" no matter who builds on it. On August 13, Bears CEO Kevin Warren said Hammond was the team's "sole focus." He said due diligence was finished at the Lost Marsh site and still underway at Wolf Lake.

Then on October 1, Gov. JB Pritzker met in Chicago with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Bears minority owner Pat Ryan. Also in the room were House Speaker Emanuel "Chris" Welch and the state's lead stadium negotiators, state Sen. Bill Cunningham and state Rep. Kam Buckner. It was Goodell's second meeting with Illinois officials in two months. Sources told WBEZ there was no major breakthrough, but some optimism about finding common ground before the mid-November veto session. More meetings are expected this month. Goodell has toured both the Arlington Heights and Hammond sites. The Bears have committed $2 billion to a new stadium wherever they build, and their Soldier Field lease runs until 2033.

The village's tone changed between June and October. Here is the mayor's statement from the day of the meeting:

"We were aware of today's meeting between Governor Pritzker, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and other state leaders, and we are encouraged by the Governor's statement following that discussion. We welcome continued progress toward keeping the Bears in Illinois and continue to believe that Arlington Heights offers the best opportunity for the Bears to build a state-of-the-art stadium and entertainment district."

The Traffic Study Still Hasn't Been Filed

Even if a deal comes out of the veto session, the zoning plans the 2027 deadline calls for depend on a traffic study the village has never received. The village's March 3 update says a complete study is required before it will formally review any proposal. The village has hired TYLin to peer-review whatever the Bears submit, and it says it will publish the findings.

Neighboring towns want a role in that review. In letters dated April 2 and May 5, the mayors of Palatine, Rolling Meadows and Schaumburg asked state leaders to include them in the infrastructure talks. They argued that road needs extend two to three miles from the site. They named Route 53 and its interchanges with I-90, Algonquin, Kirchoff, Euclid, Northwest Highway and Palatine Road as places that might need upgrades. Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly said the Route 53 and I-90 interchange already has traffic problems. On May 27, Rolling Meadows Mayor Lara Sanoica said the Bears had not backed up their request for $850 million in infrastructure improvements. She called for regional recommendations based on a traffic study. Homes south of Euclid Avenue in Rolling Meadows border the site.

The Area Around the Site Keeps Changing

None of the projects around the site has waited on the Bears. Euclid Avenue runs along the property, and this week crews are milling it between U.S. Route 14 and Rolling Road. The village's October 2 update says lanes are closing but traffic stays open. The work includes new curbs, ADA ramps and pavement, and it is expected to finish in September or October 2026.

To the south, the village's project tracker lists Arlington Gateway Phase I at Algonquin Road and Arlington Heights Road as complete in 2026. The plan was an eight-story building with about 300 apartments and 25,000 square feet of retail. Just west of the racetrack is Arlington Downs. As of the most recent detailed report, in April 2025, its 214-unit tower was 96% leased. Peyton Place, with 263 units, and First Ascent were open, four parcels were still undeveloped, and restaurant, retail and gas station plans for Rohlwing and Euclid were under village review.

The Arlington Park Metra station, the site's best-known transit asset, is still running. The station page lists 1,032 parking spaces and a waiting room open from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., and it showed no service alerts as of October 4. Metra's August 2026 ridership report counts 28,216 weekday riders on the full Union Pacific Northwest line, up 2% over the prior 12 months.

Dates on the Arlington Park Calendar

Until zoning plans are filed, the Bears pay $3.6 million a year on 326 acres that have been empty since the last horse crossed the finish line in 2021.

Rob Morrison Team follows Arlington Park closely, from the veto session to the agreement's filing deadlines. If you own near Euclid Avenue or Wilke Road and want to understand what each stage could mean for your street, schedule a consultation today.