CHICAGO — The man in line to buy the Chicago White Sox may acquire the site of Amtrak’s yard in Chicago as part of a plan to build new ballpark for the baseball team.
Crain’s Chicago Business, in a paywalled article today (Wednesday, March 18) reported that owner-in-waiting Justin Ishbia’s private equity firm, Shore Capital Partners, is in the process of buying the 47-acre Amtrak yard in the South Loop. That site is on the opposite side of the Chicago River from a development known as “The 78,” where soccer’s Chicago Fire has begun work on a new stadium and the White Sox have indicated a desire for a new facility.
As WGN-TV reports, the Crain’s article says sources indicate the Amtrak land is being considered for new ballpark by Ishbia and Shore Capital, although the property’s narrow dimensions make its suitability uncertain.
Amtrak said in a brief statement only that it “is pursuing all available opportunities to deliver a larger and improved Midwest maintenance facility that would bring rail assets into a state of good repair, enable faster train turnarounds, and enhance on-time performance.” It referred to information on its website about the Chicago Hub Improvement Program, which envisions major improvements at Chicago Union Station and routes in and out of the facility.
While a new maintenance facility is part of that plan, no site has been identified. And much of the project, projected to cost more than $1.1 billion in 2024, remains unfunded [see “Amtrak, agencies apply …,” Trains.com, Oct. 18, 2024]. Funds have been awarded for some improvements at Union Station [see “Chicago Union Station to receive more than $93 million …,” Trains.com, Dec. 6, 2024].
The High Speed Rail Alliance advocacy group says it opposes development of the site because it could make rail improvements more difficult.
“We don’t know what’s needed on the south side of Union Station yet because no expansion plan has been put together,” Rick Harnish, the executive director of the alliance, told WBBM-TV. “So we need to preserve that land for future use.”
But the exact plans for the Amtrak site remain unknown. A spokesman for Ishbia told The Athletic, the sports website owned by the New York Times, that Shore Capital Partners “is under contract to acquire the Amtrak rail yard and has begun early planning for a mixed-use development on the site.” A Northwestern Medicine healthcare facility could be part of that development, he said.
Meanwhile, a White Sox representative told The Athletic in an email that the team’s focus “has been and continues to be solely on the potential of a new ballpark at The 78.” The White Sox lease at the team’s South Side current home, Rate Field, runs through 2029. Ishbia has signed a deal with current Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to buy the team, but the earliest he can exercise that option is 2029, and Reinsdorf can delay the transaction until 2034. As a result, Ishbia has no say in current team decision-making.
— To report news or errors, contact trainsnewswire@firecrown.com.
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