Category: Chicago Blackhawks

“Privately funded” Bulls/Blackhawks arena development asks for $55m in tax breaks, could seek more

access_time personNeil deMause

It’s been almost two years since the owners of the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks announced plans for a $7 billion development housing-and-concert-space-and-hotels-and-0ther-stuff project on the parking lots around the United Center arena, without exactly indicating who would be paying for it, though it’s been widely described as “privately funded.” And now we have one sliver of an answer: a $55 million property tax break.

[Chicago Mayor Brandon] Johnson introduced the estimated $54.7 million in property tax incentives to the City Council on March 18. Under Cook County’s Class 7b special assessment, the project’s property tax rate for the first phase would be 10% for the first 10 years, 15% for Year 11, then 20% for Year 12…

“Cook County incentives such as a Class 7B are standard incentives designed to encourage private investment in underserved areas, and this project is exactly that,” [an unnamed United Center] spokesperson said. “Developments across Cook County routinely pursue these types of incentives, and we’ve done so with the understanding that the development will generate significantly increased property tax revenue over time.”

Developments across Cook County indeed receive tons of property tax breaks — it’s a Chicago specialty — but that doesn’t necessarily make them a great idea. Yes, a new development will pay more in property taxes than parking lots would have, but it would also come with new costs, starting with schools for all the kids at the new housing to attend; and that’s assuming that any new development at the United Center doesn’t lead developers to build less somewhere else in the city, which is very much something that can happen. (The Chicago Tribune editorial board points out that the planned music theater could also siphon off concerts from other city venues.) As for categorizing the arena’s Near West Side environs as “underserved,” that’s possibly a bit of a reach when it’s had the second biggest increase in property values in the entire city since 2000.

That said, $55 million in tax breaks for a $7 billion project wouldn’t be the worst sports-related development deal, if that’s all that Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and Blackhawks owner Danny Wirtz would be pocketing—

The project is also in a tax-increment financing district, which could give city officials another way to subsidize the project or the infrastructure it needs, including a new station on the CTA’s Pink Line.

Sigh. Okay, file this one under “Public cost: TBD” for now. Maybe we’ll learn more once the Chicago city council, which unanimously approved the project itself last year, takes up consideration of the tax breaks, at a time also TBD.

Share this post:

Friday roundup: Olympics remain world’s greatest money suck, TB Times self-extorts for Bucs stadium, Rays $1B deal nears final approval

access_time personNeil deMause

This has been a long, busy week for a lot of reasons, so let me just thank those of you who re-upped your FoS memberships (your swag will be in the mail shortly!) and get straight to the news, of which there is a ton, because the stadium game doesn’t stop just because it’s summer or there’s other stuff vying for our attention:

  • The Paris Olympics start tonight, and how’s that going? You say France is spending $3-5 billion on the Games in exchange for “uncertain” benefits, tourists are staying away because they don’t want to deal with all the Olympic disruptions and local museums and such are set to lose a ton of money, and Paris is forcibly relocating homeless people to make the city seem more attractive? Good, good, that’s what the Olympics are traditionally all about.
  • The Tampa Bay Buccaneers owners aren’t asking for a new stadium, but that won’t stop the Tampa Bay Times from noting that the stadium is “aging” (aren’t we all, every day) and wondering if the Glazer family will want renovations or a whole new one. “Even after repeated requests from the [Tampa] Sports Authority for information, the Buccaneers have still not provided us with any renovation plans,” Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan told the paper, while Tampa spokesperson Adam Smith said the Bucs “haven’t approached the city about anything like that” and “we don’t expect them to.” But the Bucs’ lease runs out in 2028, and all the other kids are getting new and renovated stadiums, so Times sports reporter Rick Stroud still spends 2700 words speculating on what a new or renovated stadium could look like and how it would be paid for, it’s always a time saver when your marks take the initiative to extort themselves.
  • Also in Tampa Bay, two Pinellas County commissioners are asking questions about the Rays stadium deal in advance of a Tuesday final vote, questions like “How much will this actually cost taxpayers?” (more than $1 billion, by best estimates) and “Will the public have to put in even more money to make sure affordable housing is built?” Unfortunately, it only takes four of seven commissioners to pass the deal, so there’s no guarantee the dissenters will get answers to their questions before Tuesday, though county officials said they’d ask.
  • Chicago Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf and the owners of the Blackhawks are planning a $7 billion mixed-use project around the United Center, no details provided on whether this would involve public money or tax breaks or anything, they didn’t mention it in their press release so it probably isn’t important.
  • The Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office did a study of the economic impact of the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates stadiums, both of which were built with public money, but unfortunately even though it spelled out that it was calculating spending by both “fans whose main reason for travel is a Phillies game and casual fans who attend games because they happen to be visiting the region,” the final numbers just added up all spending in and around the stadiums and assumed it wouldn’t happen without them, very disappointing.
  • Not telling the Nevada Independent how to do its job, but if you’re going to roll with the headline “How Bally’s buyout might affect resort plans for A’s Vegas stadium site,” you might maybe want to include something about how it will affect that, you know?
  • Oakland A’s owner John Fisher is laying off half the team’s non-baseball staff so he can make Sacramento River Cats employees do two jobs at once, this has been your weekly John Fisher Sucks post.
Share this post: