If a Bears stadium isn’t built in Arlington Heights, village leaders already listed what can’t be constructed on the site

Even with plans to build an NFL football stadium in Arlington Heights on hold – for now – the Chicago Bears remain the largest landowner in the northwest suburb. But the team’s president offered no ideas for what would be constructed on their property there should they choose to stay at Chicago’s lakefront.

Last year, the Bears purchased the former Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, an expansive 326-acre parcel that the team had proposed redeveloping to include an enclosed football stadium, luxury apartments and an entertainment district – an estimated $5 billion project.

But April 24, the team announced plans for a stadium at the lakefront in Chicago – just south of where the Bears play now at Soldier Field. At the news conference where the announcement was made, Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren called the Arlington Heights parcel a “beautiful piece of land.”

But said the team is right now setting its sights on a stadium development project in Chicago.

In the meantime, as the village waits to see if the team’s Chicago dreams get dashed, Arlington Heights Mayor Tom Hayes says he, nevertheless, wants to see development at the site of the former crown jewel village venue. Since the team purchased the land, the horseracing structures – including the grandstand – have been demolished.

“Our goal is to put that property to its highest and best use, and in a manner that is befitting of the legacy of Arlington Park racetrack – and it was in our community for almost a hundred years,” Hayes told Pioneer Press.

The mayor said even as the village hopes the Bears will refocus on moving to Arlington Heights, “we’re not just twiddling our thumbs” when it comes to having something built at the site.

It was almost three years ago when the Arlington Heights Village Board set restrictions on the usage of the now-former racecourse property. Those use stipulations came even before the Bears bought the land.

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In July 2021, the board formally approved an overlay zoning district to establish guidelines that supersede previous zoning, listing what business could not be erected on the land, located at 2200 W. Euclid Ave. Charles Witherington-Perkins, director of planning and community development, explained at that time that an overlay zoning district is established over a certain property or area in order to create additional zoning standards or restrictions.

The property had been zoned B-3, which is motor vehicle-oriented use of wholesale, retail and service establishments and designated mixed-use. Perkins told the board then that B-3 zoning was not conducive to the “high quality, one-of-a-kind type redevelopment” village leaders hoped would come to the site, prompting approval of the overlay zoning district.

The new zoning insists on sustainable development features such as permeable pavers, green rooftops, energy efficient building design, solar energy and bicycle access. It also permits the continued use of the property as a horse racing track. However, the grandstand, stables and all of the other elements of the racetrack have been demolished.

The overlay zoning approval also included a list of 23 prohibited uses on the site, which include: Adult businesses, agricultural implement sales and service, commercial and non-commercial antenna, car wash, auto service station, building material sales, contractor office and design showroom, currency exchange, electrical equipment sales, fairgrounds kiddie parks, funeral home or mortuary, laundry dry cleaning, machinery sales and service, monuments sales, motor vehicle repair shop, pawn shop, recreational vehicles and boats, sales supplies, repair, secondhand store, sign painting shop, tool and die shop, wholesale offices including warehouses and storerooms.

This effort, according to Perkins, helped establish some general parameters for what village leaders envisioned for the property. The village previously established overlay zoning districts for South Arlington Heights Road, Hickory Kensington and the Arlington Downs development which are underway as mixed-use residential developments.

Further, Hayes said in the days following the Bears announcement about its Chicago plans that he wants to see something comprehensive ultimately come to the site.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for a new developer or multiple developers, and so I would like to see some kind of unified development,” said Hayes.

Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.

Pioneer Press staff contributed