Arlington Heights board approves consulting amendment to review Bears' Arlington Park studies

The Arlington Heights Village Board on a unanimous roll-call vote approved a first amendment with Hunden Strategic Partners LLC to conduct economic and market peer reviews of studies submitted by the Chicago Bears Football Club for a proposed sports‑entertainment district at the former Arlington International Racecourse site.

The amendment authorizes roughly $200,000 for a detailed economic review and places Hunden on a retainer of $12,500 per month during negotiations, according to Randy Reclauss, village manager. “These studies are going to be crucial to determine the economic and financial viability of the project,” Reclauss said, and he stressed the work will be iterative as traffic, revenue projections and infrastructure costs are reconciled.

Why it matters: the peer reviews are intended to test the Bears’ assumptions about revenue, economic benefits and project costs and to identify infrastructure needs before the village considers any formal approvals. Per the village’s 2022 pre‑development agreement with the Club, the Bears will reimburse the village for these review expenses once they are incurred.

Reclauss described the review as a multi‑step process that will likely take several weeks for the initial draft reviews and longer for negotiation and refinement. “The way this is gonna work is…there’s a relationship between any plan that we receive for the site, the traffic impacts of that plan, the cost of building the infrastructure needed…and the amount of revenue generated,” he said.

Trustees pressed staff on budget and timing. Trustee Shirley asked whether the $200,000 fee or hourly rates had changed since the initial 2022 agreement; Reclauss said both increased modestly because labor costs rose. He also confirmed Hunden has not been paid previously because the earlier work paused in 2023. Trustee Bertucci asked about a project timeline; Reclauss said the initial review will take several weeks but the total schedule depends on how many iterations are required once the club’s materials are exchanged and negotiated.

The motion to approve the amendment was made by Trustee Richard Baldino and seconded by Trustee Bertucci; the board voted in favor by roll call.

Next steps: staff said final studies and plans would be presented publicly if the project moves forward and that the Village Board will ultimately decide whether a final redevelopment plan is desirable and feasible.