Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday declared he’s in the “final stages” of talks on a plan to renovate historic Wrigley Field, catching off-guard stakeholders from the North Side to City Hall to Springfield.
Lest too much hope spring eternal on the cusp of Opening Day, all parties involved cautioned a deal isn’t imminent and several hurdles would have to be overcome.
“The conversations have been productive, but there is no agreement at this time,” Emanuel spokeswoman Sarah Hamilton said hours after the mayor made his comments.
Emanuel in recent weeks has been pushing the need to rebuild Chicago. But the issues at Wrigley have lingered for years as two team owners have stressed the need to fix the crumbling ballpark and modernize amenities like bathrooms, kitchens and concourses.
Previous owner Tribune Co. wanted the state to buy and fix Wrigley in 2007 when Rod Blagojevich was governor. That approach went nowhere, and details of the negotiations came out after the now-imprisoned ex-governor was criminally charged.
In late 2010, new Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts struck out with his idea of using future gains in city and county ticket taxes to help pay for the stadium’s face lift. That, Ricketts said, would allow the family to invest $200 million to develop land near the ballpark into offices, restaurants and retail.
That idea has been a non-starter with Emanuel, and it didn’t appear much had changed Tuesday when the mayor was asked about the status of Wrigley talks ahead of Thursday’s season opener against the Washington Nationals.
“I will not put my money in their field so they can take their money and invest around the field and get greater economic value,” Emanuel said.
But Emanuel didn’t shut the door on tax money being used in some fashion. Now the mayor and the Cubs are trying to reach an agreement that would allow the team to use a portion of the amusement tax, along with money put up by the Ricketts, on the ballpark and development surrounding Wrigley, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.
The mayor wants the Ricketts family to put “some skin in the game” and guarantee that the city will receive a base level of annual amusement taxes and get some public use out of the development, the source said. The owners agree to that in principle, according to the source.
Not that Emanuel was ready to talk specifics after his strong remark about talks being in the final stages.
“Always remember that I’m here to represent taxpayers, but I’m not here to subsidize private investors with public dollars,” Emanuel said.
When asked whether an amusement tax would be part of a plan, Emanuel said, “Every piece fits together. I’ll let you know the whole piece when we’re ready.”
The mayor is trying to thread the needle with Wrigley. Emanuel has raised vehicle sticker fees and water rates as City Hall scrapes for every dime to balance its budget, so the use of tax money could bring blowback from voters if not sold effectively.
Emanuel’s insistence that team owners put their own money into Wrigley is “an issue of optics,” said William Brandt Jr., chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority, which possibly could issue bonds involved in a stadium renovation. “The optics are important here.”
The quiet talks stretching over several months represents a new approach for Ricketts, who went public with his plan before getting buy-in from key politicians, including then-Mayor Richard Daley, and watched it promptly get buried. The team said little on Tuesday.
“We know efforts like these take time and we will continue to work hard to reach a consensus,” Cubs spokesman Julian Green said in a statement.
Gov.Pat Quinn’sadministration has had little involvement in discussions at this stage and has yet to be approached with a plan.
“We’re waiting for details,” Quinn said. “I’ve talked to the mayor in general about it, but I think most people would feel that it’s important that the Cubs themselves, the team, put some money into their own stadium.”
Ald. Thomas Tunney, whose 44th Ward includes Wrigley Field, said aldermen have not been briefed by the Emanuel administration on how the renovation would be financed.
“There is a whole menu of different ideas, but they are just ideas,” Tunney said.
One option, the alderman said, would be creating a special taxing district around the ballpark that would be funded through either property, sales or amusement taxes. In most tax increment financing districts, property taxes paid to local governments are frozen for up to 23 years, and any additional tax collections are used to build infrastructure that promotes economic development.
With the city still facing future budget deficits in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the economic benefits to the city as a whole will have to be clear, Tunney said.
If Emanuel and the Cubs were to reach agreement, they’d have to sell a plan in Springfield. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, a vocal supporter of the need to renovate Wrigley, has been involved with the mayor in “ongoing talks with the Cubs,” said Cullerton spokesman Ronald Holmes.
“We’re pleased with the mayor’s enthusiasm. We’re pleased that he’s thinks we’re close,” Holmes said. “The Cubs haven’t actually given us a proposal. As far as I know, no specifics have been agreed upon at this time by all individuals in the room.”
There’s not much construction that could be done at the ballpark before early October, given that there’s six months of baseball to be played.
In Springfield, there isn’t likely to be much appetite for dealing with Wrigley Field until after the November election. All 177 lawmakers are on the ballot running in new districts this fall, and it’s easier to ask them to take a politically tricky vote after the election.
The lame duck session at the Capitol has proven to be a politically potent time. Many lawmakers know they’ve kept their jobs for at least two years, and some of those who lost their seats historically have been more willing to go along.
Following the November 2010 election, lawmakers voted for a major income tax increase, legalized civil unions and banned the death penalty. The rebuilding of Soldier Field, which involved tax money, was approved by lawmakers after the November 2000 election.
Tribune reporters Hal Dardick, Ray Long, Monique Garcia and John Byrne contributed.
