The billionaire in line to take controlling ownership in the Chicago White Sox has a deal to buy a rail yard in the South Loop that could be redeveloped to include a new ballpark with skyline and river views.
Justin Ishbia’s Shore Capital Partners has a contract to buy the 14th Street Coach Yard from Amtrak, a spokesperson for Ishbia said in a statement.
The private-equity firm has begun planning a mixed-use development on the approximately 47-acre site, according to the statement, which did not mention the possibility of a new baseball venue there.
But a ballpark is one possible use for the riverfront land as the team plots its future home, according to people familiar with the situation.
The site is immediately across the river from The 78, Related Midwest’s 62-acre development site where Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire recently broke ground on a 22,000-seat stadium and where the White Sox’s longtime owners in recent years have been eyeing a potential new ballpark.
If Ishbia’s firm completes the land purchase, it could widen the scope of an expected development boom that would activate the stretch along the river between the South Loop and Chinatown.
It also would give Ishbia, who has an agreement to take a controlling ownership interest in the White Sox as soon as 2029, multiple options for a new ballpark as he prepares to take over decision-making from the Reinsdorf family sometime between 2029 and 2034. The team faces pushback over the idea of having two sports arenas on the east side of the river.
News of Shore Capital’s deal to buy the site, earlier reported by Crain’s Chicago Business, comes less than three weeks after Chicago billionaire Joe Mansueto’s pro soccer team held a groundbreaking ceremony for its $750 million stadium on The 78 site.
The White Sox also have been considering the site as a potential replacement for the team’s current ballpark to the south in the Bridgeport neighborhood. Related Midwest unveiled renderings of a ballpark on the site in early 2024, showing dramatic views of the city’s skyline looking north.
But in agreeing to the Fire stadium on the site, 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell has said she opposes two sports stadiums on the site. Approval of the Fire project included language that would require more public meetings and zoning approvals for another stadium to be considered on the site in the future.
In buying the rail yard directly across the river, Ishbia would add more options and potential leverage in negotiating a new ballpark along the river. The rail yard is in Alderman Jason Ervin’s 28th Ward. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.
Mixed-use vision
Ishbia’s statement to CoStar News did not mention a ballpark, only saying that there is a mixed-use vision for the site that could include a Northwestern Medicine healthcare facility and medical innovation hub.
A spokesperson for the hospital system confirmed being “in the early stages of discussions about a potential health care facility as part of this development,” in line with recent expansions of health care into other neighborhoods such as Bronzeville and Old Irving Park.
Chicago developer Sterling Bay is expected to be involved in the redevelopment of the site, according to people familiar with the situation. Sterling Bay declined to comment.
In a separate statement, the White Sox said the team’s “focus has been and continues to be solely on the potential of a new ballpark at The 78.”
It’s unclear whether the White Sox will clear several hurdles for a new ballpark, including potentially winning approval for public subsidies to support the project, to start construction while the Reinsdorf family still controls decision-making.
Complex rail plan
Shore Capital’s plans for the rail yard, meanwhile, are expected to be contingent on Amtrak pulling off a complex plan to move the rail yard south to a new facility near the White Sox’s current Rate Field ballpark, Crain’s reported.
Moving the rail yard is part of ongoing efforts by Amtrak to reconfigure rail lines in Chicago and improve efficiency.
Ishbia’s net worth is $5.8 billion, according to Forbes.
His brother Mat, who led the effort in 2023 to buy the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, and their father, Jeff, also are expected to invest in the White Sox.
The brothers also own a stake in Major League Soccer’s franchise in Nashville, Tennessee.
Last year, after Chicago-area native and lifelong White Sox fan Robert Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, Ishbia said during a Vatican City meeting that he planned to build a new ballpark. Ishbia invited the pope to throw out the first pitch if a new venue is constructed.