As the driving of piles at The 78 continues for the new Chicago Fire soccer stadium, the next permit is now in place. Permission for shallow foundations, which had been pending since February 20, was issued on April 24, and it includes a reported cost of $15.4 million. This follows the stadium’s first permit, for driving said piles, which came through on March 20.
A pair of pending permits for an east tower crane and a west tower crane hit the Chicago Data Portal on April 14. And pending since March 18 is a permit for the four-story (“with no basement”) stadium’s superstructure. The full permit has not been seen yet, but is likely to hit the portal at any time.
Photo by Daniel Schell
There is still a lot of earth to be moved. Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
Photo by Daniel Schell
General contractors Pepper Construction, GMA Construction, and A.L.L. Construction broke ground on the $750 million stadium on March 3. The Fire plan to open the new facility in spring 2028.
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Happy to see this finally coming to life. Not sure that the whole planned project will be completed but it needed to get started. This is a great opportunity for the Fire to rise up in the MLS.
I get that people are wary of mega projects in Chicago, but why has everyone been so pessimistic about this one?
We’ve made it to the tower crane phase all within a year of the initial proposal. Like? That’s huge for almost any city. As far as land use goes, it’s a growing movement to undo decades of neglect. Wrigley Field has already proven itself. Whether some think it feels fake or corporate, it’s no longer wasted land dedicated to fast-food chains. The United Center is in process, as we all know. The Sox can’t keep their priorities straight… Decades of bad decisions and wild pipedreams. The Bears with who knows what. Whoever offers them the sweetest grift wins the honor of building their stadium.
As far as Chicago Fire goes, they are the first to finally get this chunk of land moving. The University of Illinois’s pullout was an unfortunate loss, but they will probably find new ground at the quantum site. Or they should make better use of UIC’s campus. Even if parking is just added initially, the 78 is far too much land for that single use. More will come.
I think the concern is that there is not much precedent for these types of modern stadium projects in the US. Most stadiums get built in a gigantic parking lot or industrial zone without any sort of residential projects completed near them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited for this project but I think it will remain isolated in the area for at least a decade.
You should take a look at some of the other MLS stadiums, a good chunk of them were built into nice urban environments. New York City FC is another good example of a project like this and a lot of the apartments are going up alongside their stadium right now. But even cities like Cincinnati, Austin, St. Louis and Orlando have managed to build stadiums in urban settings to varying degrees. And those cities are far behind Chicago in terms of urbanism.
Looking forward to the new stadium!
a Chicago Fire Football Stadium being built right before our very eyes and potentially another Ballpark across the Chicago River. I’m assuming there will be a new metra stop by here, right? Or wrong
Not saying you’re wrong, but it’s not safe to assume it will happen.
Awesome to see this project progressing.
This is great. It would be amazing if we started to see a residential high rise proposal come up sooner rather than later. If the Sox can build on the other side of the river at some point, this would have two major stadiums walking distance from downtown and right on the Chicago River. It seems like it would be a desirable place to live. Hopefully some ideas are in the works while the land is still cheaper for high rises to be built here.
I am sure construction of the stadium and the city finalizing some plans for infrastructure: streets, stairs, ramps, and riverwalk will excite developers about the rest of 178. Allowing some 30 to 50 story residential buildings with street level to three story terraced retail that could take advantage of the river and city views would help to make 178 a unique destination where people come to shop, dine and hangout.