Related Midwest Pitches Bears Stadium at South Works

Chicago developer offers a 440-acre former U.S. Steel site on Lake Michigan as a possible home for the Bears.

Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Commercial

Wide, empty industrial lakefront with weathered rail spurs and cleared concrete stretching toward grey Lake Michigan under overcast skies. — Related Midwest, a Chicago developer, pitched a Bears stadium on 440 acres of former U.S. Steel South Works land on Lake Michigan, a site the Bears have not publicly embraced. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

Should your city use public money to help keep a pro sports team?

Related Midwest, a Chicago-based developer, has pitched a stadium development on a 440-acre former U.S. Steel South Works property to keep the Chicago Bears in the city. The Bears have not publicly responded to the proposal, and they have publicly committed to building a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana.

Why it matters

The proposal would use land Related Midwest already controls and could let the Bears build on public land, potentially avoiding property taxes. The House in Springfield is still weighing a stadium authority model that would make such a deal possible for Chicago.

Related Midwest controls a 440-acre former U.S. Steel South Works property on Lake Michigan. The Bears have publicly committed to building a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana, and have not responded to the Chicago pitch.

The players

Related Midwest

A Chicago-based developer that controls the 440-acre former U.S. Steel South Works property and has pitched a stadium there.

Chicago Bears

The National Football League franchise that has publicly committed to building a new stadium in Hammond, Indiana.

The details

Related Midwest is pitching a stadium on the former U.S. Steel South Works land, which the company already controls. Previous plans for a new Bears stadium that included public subsidies fizzled out, and Bears officials have met with NFL and Illinois officials over the past few months.

Over the past few months, Bears officials have met with NFL and Illinois officials.
On November 6, 2026, Related Midwest's stadium pitch was reported.

Real Estate Context

The South Works pitch follows earlier Bears stadium plans that relied on public subsidies and fizzled out. The stadium authority model under consideration in Springfield would be the mechanism for a public-land approach this time.

A public-land stadium model could affect how much local property tax revenue the city collects from the site. The House's decision on the stadium authority will determine whether a Chicago deal is possible at all.

The takeaway

Large stadium proposals often depend on public land and tax arrangements, so the outcome of the Springfield stadium authority debate will shape where the Bears play.