A professional soccer stadium along the Chicago River moved closer to reality Thursday when a key city panel approved changes to Related Midwest’s $8 billion development called The 78.
The Chicago Plan Commission signed off on changes that would allow Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire to build a 22,000-seat stadium within the 62-acre site that runs along the river between the South Loop and Chinatown.
If the plan is soon approved by a City Council zoning panel and then the full City Council, team owner Joe Mansueto plans to begin constructing the stadium next year, with plans to move from the club’s current home in Soldier Field to the new venue by 2028.
Thursday’s affirmative vote by the Plan Commission also was an important step for Related Midwest’s broader, mixed-use project that has been planned for years on the site. The project’s sheer size, which the firm says will make it the city’s 78th neighborhood, gave the development its name.
Major League Baseball’s Chicago White Sox also are interested in potentially moving to The 78, but 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell has said multiple times that she and neighbors do not support two sports venues on the site.
Related Midwest won city approval for the megadevelopment, which allows for as many as 10,000 homes, in 2019. Zoning must be amended from that plan to allow for the Fire stadium.
Mansueto, the billionaire founder of Morningstar, first announced plans for a stadium on the site in June. Later that month, the first renderings from architecture firm Gensler were unveiled.
The team’s owner has said he plans to privately fund the nearly $750 million stadium, but taxpayer dollars are expected to help fund infrastructure such as new roads onto the long-vacant site.
“We are thrilled with the positive reception to The 78, as we have worked closely with the city, Alderman Dowell and neighboring aldermen, and local residents to shape a project centered on community priorities,” Related Midwest President Curt Bailey said in a statement after the Plan Commission approval. “In partnership with the Chicago Fire, we look forward to bringing a world-class soccer stadium, new housing options, neighborhood-focused retail and numerous public amenities to this site, including a half-mile riverwalk and network of parks and open spaces that will help establish The 78 as Chicago’s next great neighborhood.”