Developers pitch a $10 billion Bronzeville district with a 75,000-seat dome to keep the Bears in Chicago

A group of Chicago developers wants the Bears to look at a $10 billion stadium district on the South Side, a site the team has already turned down. Capri Investment Group and GRIT Chicago unveiled the plan Thursday for the former Michael Reese Hospital property in Bronzeville, with a 75,000-seat domed stadium at its center, NBC Chicago and Front Office Sports reported.

For Bears fans and Illinois taxpayers, the important detail is the money. According to NBC Chicago, the stadium would be publicly owned, with construction contributions from the Bears and private investment paying for the rest of the district. The plan also calls for hotels, retail, restaurants, thousands of housing units, a new CTA Green Line station and a new Metra station.

To get around the biggest obstacle, the developers said they would buy the former Arlington International Racecourse property, which the Bears bought to build a domed stadium in suburban Arlington Heights.

"We want the Bears to remain in the city whose name they carry," Capri founder and executive chairman Quintin Primo III said, per FOS.

The Bears have said no to this site before

The Bears and the NFL previously rejected the Reese parcel as too narrow and raised concerns about the active rail lines that run through it, FOS reported. Commissioner Roger Goodell toured it in January and also passed. NBC Chicago reported that sources close to the negotiations are skeptical of the new plan and that talks about keeping the team in Illinois remain focused on Arlington Heights.

The Bears have not commented on the Reese proposal or the other unsolicited pitches, which include the former South Works steel mill site and the Rate Field site if the White Sox build elsewhere.

The real deadline is Nov. 17

Illinois' veto session begins Nov. 17, and Gov. JB Pritzker has said he plans to advance a Bears-related bill during it, FOS reported. The team wants property tax certainty and infrastructure help for the Arlington Heights land. It also has a standing option in Hammond, Indiana, where state leaders approved a funding package about nine months ago.

"We have a responsibility and obligation to explore every option available to the club," the Bears said last week about the talks with both states.