Here is why the Ricketts has stalled on their massive real estate development project around Wrigley Field: unless they maximize all the revenue resources in their proposals, it is not worth it to them to do any development. The posturing has the effect of "take it or leave it" demand on the city and neighborhood.
Tom Ricketts has repeatedly said that he wants the team to stay at Wrigley. His family has bought up many parcels of real estate around the park. He claims that the family will invest $500 million in the Lakeview area around Clark and Addison. He does not want any obstructionists, litigation or city conditions on his plans. He is holding his own money hostage to get the city to bulldoze any opposition to his plans.
From a business perspective, investing $500 million in a crowded residential street corner is a little crazy. For that amount of money, you could go build a state of the art facility/hotel complex in the suburbs, including ownership of all the modern revenue areas such as parking. You could even recreate Wrigley Field in the suburbs but with all the modern fan-friendly features.
But the Cubs have never really played the "move card."
Other people have on their behalf. The mayor of Rosemont is willing to give the team free land next to O'Hare Field. Free land is a great savings for a team, but the proximity to the runways versus the highly accessible tollways is probably a huge negative. People did not like the landing airplanes above Shea Stadium. But that move would allow the state to have some more traffic spaghetti interchange construction which is big money for local construction firms.
The Bears thought about moving out of Soldier Field. Arlington Park was a possibility because it was a large open area behind the horse track, with immediate access by train and automobile traffic. This site is still available. But the Bears stayed downtown after the city and state paid for a new Soldier Field.
The White Sox thought about moving out of Comiskey Park. There was a large parcel of land off the expressway near Itasca. This site is still available. But the White Sox stayed on the South Side when the state built them a new ball park across the street from Old Comiskey, and gave the Sox a sweetheart lease deal.
There are probably other potential sites in Lake or DuPage County if the Cubs really wanted to move closer to their actual fan base.
The longer the current situation with the Wrigley projects takes to resolve, the more talk will begin about moving the Cubs to another location. In the past few years, there have been more and more fans who now believe that they have no problem if the Cubs vacated Wrigley Field. As I said previously, if the rehab and new signage comes through, Wrigley Field is not going to be the old Wrigley anymore. And any sentimentality attached to the old place will quickly fade away under the glare of the new electronic scoreboards.
