Jerry Reinsdorf to pitch IL House speaker on South Loop White Sox ballpark, seek $1 billion in public funding
White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf was expected to meet with Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch to talk about his vision for a new ballpark in the South Loop neighborhood known as The 78.
Sun-Times file
White Sox Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf is heating up his pitch for a new South Loop baseball stadium.
Reinsdorf had a meeting scheduled Tuesday afternoon with Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, to discuss his ambitious proposal for a ball park-anchored megadevelopment at the undeveloped plot known as “The 78” near Roosevelt Road and Clark Street, according to a spokesperson for the speaker.
The billionaire owner was expected to hold court with other officials on the glitzy plan as lawmakers gather in Springfield ahead of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s annual budget address on Wednesday.
A spokesman for Illinois Senate President Don Harmon, D-Oak Park, didn’t have any details on a potential meeting with Reinsdorf.
Welch and Harmon were both briefed on the ambitious proposal last month by Related Midwest, the Chicago megadeveloper that controls the land.
A spokeswoman for Pritzker said no meeting with Reinsdorf was on the agenda, and he still hasn’t been briefed by the developer. The second-term Democratic governor has been lukewarm on the prospect of putting taxpayer dollars into a stadium.
Representatives for the Sox and Related Midwest didn’t return messages seeking comment.
Reinsdorf is expected to seek about $1 billion in public money to help fund the project, according to a report in Crain’s Chicago Business.
At least some of those dollars could come through refinancing existing bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority that funded the construction of Guaranteed Rate Field in the early 1990s, after Reinsdorf threatened to move the team to St. Petersburg, Florida.
But Reinsdorf could also be vying for a taxing district around the stadium that would capture $400 million in state sales tax revenue for the development, Crain’s reported.
“I would love to know how they’re planning to pay for it,” Welch told the Sun-Times this month. “I look forward to hearing that from the developers. I imagine they’re taking it step by step. They want to make sure there is an appetite for it.
“They did come with a lot of pretty pictures,” Welch said. “They got people excited. Now, they’re going to have to answer the question of how they’re going to pay for it. I would imagine they’re going to have a menu of options they put out there because they know how this process works.”
The Chicago Bears are also expected to seek out a legislative fix this session, which concludes in late May, to fund a potential new stadium either in Arlington Heights or south of Soldier Field.