Private equity goon Justin Ishbia has an option to buy the Chicago White Sox in a few years and is reportedly negotiating to buy an Amtrak railyard in the South Loop, and hoo, baby, are people connecting the dots:
The White Sox, whose lease at Rate Field in the Armour Square neighborhood expires in 2029, have previously pitched plans for a new stadium at “The 78.” If the deal between Shore Capital and Amtrak is completed, Crain’s reports, the groundwork could be all set for a stadium-centric district on the southern edge of downtown.
It all sounds plausible enough in internet comment thread logic, but there are some major questions about how this would all work. First off, the “The 78” stadium project faltered after nobody in Chicago was interested in giving current White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf up to $1.7 billion to help pay for it, a funding gap that remains. Second, the Amtrak property is across the Chicago River from The 78, so it would be a “district” with a large body of water dividing it in two. This could be resolved if both the White Sox stadium and the rest of the district went on the Amtrak side of the river — but Crain’s Chicago Business reports that the Amtrak site is narrower than The 78 (it doesn’t look it on Google Maps, but maybe Amtrak is only selling part of its site?) and so might not be able to fit a whole baseball stadium, but also that “sources” say Ishbia is considering a stadium there anyway.
Ishbia outright buying the land would be interesting, since it would mean he would be on the hook for property taxes on the site, as well as any development he built on it. Though, of course, this is Chicago, where property tax breaks are handed out like oranges with Jack-o-Lantern faces drawn on them, so it’s always possible he could apply for a TIF district like The 78 got.
Or not! We are deep, deep in speculation territory here, when all we really know is “Jerry Reinsdorf wants a new White Sox stadium, preferably before he dies” and “the rich dude who is set to take over the White Sox wants everyone to know he’s looking at buying some land.” The devil, as always, will be in the funding details, and those are so far down the road you couldn’t see them clearly even with the help of mini-flashlights.
Meanwhile, what’s next is, let’s let Fox32 sum it up:
What’s next: The White Sox’s current lease for Rate Field does not end until 2029, well after the 2028 season.
Nailed the concept of time’s arrow, Fox32, no notes.
Ishbia is an amateur. He should have bought land in Indiana to start a bidding war.
PS. Thanks to your article, I now know his name is “Ishbia”, not “Ishiba”.
1. This project is not part of the 78 and never will be. A second stadium is not going to be allowed in the 78 by the neighbors.
2. In order to fit a stadium in this location, Ishbia needs to purchase the BNSF rail yard that is used by Metra that is west of this property.
Thanks for clarifying that the Amtrak site is only the east half by the river — Google Maps was telling me otherwise.
Brodie Brazil has an analysis on the site. There is an active rail line going through the site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15YFRATbjm8
So you’d need to either dig a tunnel for the trains (expensive) or built a platform for the stadium (even more expensive). That sounds … expensive.
Yes, probably have to build a platform over the site. Several Metra lines and Amtrak pass through here on the way to Chicago Union Station.
Wasn’t the Jets’ proposed West Side stadium (or whatever it was) going to be constructed over the top of train tracks?
Yup! And Madison Square Garden is built over train tracks. It’s not impossible, but it does create a whole bunch of headaches.
Not quite.
Amtrak is currently in the middle of relocating their maintenance and storage facilities next to…the Guaranteed Rate White Sox stadium.
Amtrak is selling their current yard next to the 78 for the financial capital, but the Metra tracks are not included in the deal.
So the new owner would almost certainly remove the tracks and prepare the land with a federal railroad rehabilitation grant.
The property still looks too narrow for a stadium, but could certainly fit an entertainment district, Riverwalk and parking.
And any Alderman promises not to allow two stadiums om the 78 aare merely words once the financial muscle gets flexed.
Is it possible he just thought a rail yard was a good investment? Norfolk Southern has been displacing south side families for 10 years to expand their rail yard.
I think this is the most likely possibility. So many things could go wrong with building on this site, including the fact you’d probably need Congressional approval to start building (a la the Athletic’s Howard Terminal plan and the Commander’s RFK site). Ishbia probably just let the story run with his non-committal comments, because why not.
Its not clear that this is a White Sox related investment or if its related to his private equity business. This isn’t Stan Kronke buying Hollywood Park which was obviously for the stadium, especially since its being bought by his PE firm which has other investors and there are rules about that sort of thingss
The issue here is that someone told Crain’s that a stadium was under consideration. That may or may not be true, but whoever said it wants Crain’s to repeat that it’s true.
Assuming it’s anything at all, what’s Ishbia playing at? Under his agreement with Reinsdorf, he won’t have a majority stake until after the current lease expires. He actually has an incentive to keep the price of the team flat, and a new stadium deal in the meantime could drive the price up. And anyways, Reinsdorf himself wouldn’t want to contribute to a new stadium at this point.
Is Ishbia just trying to lay the groundwork for some state negotiation post-2029? I don’t get why he’d be fanning the flames at this point, which is why I question the rumors surrounding this purchase.
So did we get the Kendall Ishbia or the Roman Ishbia? If he’s the Connor Ishbia, that could be some good, demented fun.
Chicago’s Millenium Park was built on a railyard, so it is possible to build a stadium on top of a railyard. I really hope this works out. I know we’re in the “speculation phase”, but Justin Ishbia is already showing he cares about the Chicago White Sox and the fans…and he’s not even the majority owner of the team, yet. We’ll see how far this goes, but I’d love to see this work out.
It’s certainly possible, but a stadium weighs a LOT more than a park, so the platform would need to be much more substantial. Plus the field would need to be well above grade, which creates load-in issues.
Doable? Yes. Expensive? Also yes.