White Sox owner-in-waiting Justin Ishbia’s private equity firm Shore Capital is “nearing a deal to buy a 47-acre rail yard near the southwest corner of the Loop” in Chicago, “lining up a vision … for a potential new ballpark-anchored campus along the South Branch of the Chicago River,” according to Ecker & Laurence of CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS. Shore Capital is in “early planning for a mixed-use development on the site” — which sits across the river from The 78 megadevelopment site, where the Fire broke ground earlier this month on a new 22,000-seat venue and where the White Sox have also pitched plans for a new ballpark as they approach a 2029 lease expiration at Rate Field. If the Amtrak deal is completed, it “would lay the groundwork” for a new ballpark-centric district along the southern edge of downtown. The purchase would also “send a strong signal about the future home of the Sox from Ishbia,” who is in line to buy a controlling interest in the franchise from Jerry Reinsdorf as soon as 2029 — although the decision to sell is Reinsdorf’s until 2034 — and has “publicly declared his intention to build a new home for the club” (CRAIN’S CHICAGO BUSINESS, 3/18).
