Surprised this wasn't bigger news in the local rags

[Lake Shore Drive]

Chicago Bears buy Arlington Heights property for possible stadium

The team said it has completed its purchase of the 326-acre site for $197.2 million as it continues negotiations for state and local tax subsidies.

chicago.suntimes.com

Of course we all knew the purchase was inevitable, but you'd still think that once it became official, the news would be more widespread.

 

[Lake Shore Drive]

Here's an excerpt from the letter confirming the purchase of the property:

Finalizing the purchase does not guarantee the land will be developed, but it is an important next step in our ongoing evaluation of the opportunity. There is still a tremendous amount of due diligence work to be done to determine if constructing an enclosed state-of-the-art stadium and multi-purpose entertainment district is feasible.

Translation: Blah blah blah. We're building and developing.

 

[Debbie Does]

They may be trying to push the city and town governments to subsidize development. Unless they've got a guy like Kraft or JJ who will foot the bill, expect a drawn out battle. If they do that, I'll be dead before the first penalty flag is thrown in the new stadium.