Chinatown residents express aspirations, concerns for proposed Chicago Fire stadium

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When Jerry Lee moved to Chicago nearly five years ago, the California native found community hard to come by. As the 31-year-old landed in town for graduate school, he didn't know a single person, though he found one place that felt like home: Chinatown.

Now, with the Chicago Fire soccer team announcing in June plans for a proposed $650 million soccer stadium a half a mile away from Chinatown, Lee and other Chicago residents have started to wonder about the neighborhood's future as Chinatowns in other cities continue to dwindle.

"Chinatown was (somewhere) that allowed me ... to find a place where I felt like I fit in," Lee said at a recent town hall where community members voiced their qualms and hopes for the development.

As envisioned, the Fire's proposed stadium, slated to open ahead of the 2028 Major League Soccer regular season, would be situated along the Chicago River just south of Roosevelt Road and total 22,000 seats. The stadium would be privately funded by the Fire's owner, Joe Mansueto, and serve as the anchor tenant of The 78, an empty stretch of riverfront southwest of the Loop where developer Related Midwest has sought for years to plant a brand-new neighborhood.

During a two-hour meeting Wednesday night at Chinatown's Pui Tak Center, organized by the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community and Teen Coalition for Chinatown, concerns that The 78 would gentrify and displace residents of the historic Chinatown neighborhood were ever present. But organizers made it clear that the gathering was just the start of a larger conversation over the project, noting their goal is to have an end product that residents can gain from, rather than feel the weight of.

"This is going to affect all of us," said Yu Jing Chen, founder and adviser of the Teen Coalition for Chinatown. "Not just in the next couple of years but, really, for generations to come. ... Yeah, there is such great potential. But we really need to do this together."

The Fire's new home is to serve as a catalyst for realizing the broader vision of The 78, according to Related Midwest, which includes retail, residential, outdoor gathering spaces and a half-mile riverwalk -- none of which has yet come to fruition.

Both the Fire and Related Midwest have touted that the proposed stadium will create thousands of jobs and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for the city.

Related has also previously spoken of its commitment to bringing up to 1,000 new affordable units to the city as it builds The 78. Yet among the concerns raised at Wednesday's meeting was what affordability would mean in real time.

Event organizers noted that what's affordable in Chinatown is different from what would be affordable in the neighboring South Loop. There's also the concern that new development would suddenly raise rents and property values for surrounding neighborhoods.

Andy Chen, who lives in University Village and does business in Chinatown, said he wants to ensure that his two sons, 11 and 15, can afford to live in Chicago when they are older. But Chen, 47, worries private development will come at the expense of public interest, which isn't "the kind of community or world that we want to live in," he said.

Chen is also concerned about congestion and public safety. A cyclist and proponent of alternative transportation, Chen said he wants his oldest son to be able to ride his bike to school in the South Loop. But with the high foot traffic a new stadium would bring, congestion could get "much, much worse," he said.

By starting a conversation now, community leaders said they are looking to chart a path forward beneficial to all stakeholders.

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"We really want to proactively plan for this catalytic investment," Sarah Tang, director of programs for the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC), said, later adding: "We're at the perfect (time) to collect community feedback and to do something together."

Born and raised in San Francisco's historic Chinatown with family still there today, Lee said that while applying for graduate schools, he only considered cities with Chinatown districts, ultimately choosing the University of Chicago.

Lee fears resident displacement for Chicago's Chinatown in the wake of other Chinatowns across the country facing similar pressures.

In 1997, the home of the Washington Capitals hockey team and the Wizards basketball team, today known as Capital One Arena, moved to D.C.'s Chinatown community. The Associated Press reported in 2022 that the project brought rising rents and chain restaurants, forcing the community out.

Most recently, the Philadelphia 76ers had plans in the works to build a $1.3 billion arena just a block away from the gateway arch for Philadelphia's Chinatown. A coalition to oppose the arena composed of more than 40 Chinatown community groups, nonprofits and business organizations formed in response. Earlier this year, the 76ers abandoned the arena plans.

Since Related Midwest acquired The 78 property in 2016, the undeveloped swath of land has been in the running to be home of new enterprises, from Amazon's second headquarters to a new publicly funded ballpark for the White Sox.

Chinatown was most actively involved when Related Midwest sought to bring a casino to the megadevelopment a few years ago, said Grace Chan McKibben, executive director of CBCAC. The proposal spurred CBCAC to amass more than 2,000 signatures in opposition. Related Midwest lost its bid for the casino in 2022.

McKibben said the goal is to work in tandem with not only Related Midwest but also the city and adjacent neighborhoods that also stand to be affected by development, including Pilsen and Bronzeville. Related Midwest has echoed the sentiment.

In a statement to the Tribune, the developer said it has "prioritized community engagement, as we do with every one of our real estate developments in Chicago. This includes outreach to Chinatown residents and other neighbors most impacted by our proposal."

To date, Related has engaged in several community meetings on its current project plans. In June, hundreds attended a town hall about The 78 hosted by Ald. Pat Dowell, 3rd, where Related Midwest President Curt Bailey presented a proposed development plan.

"Working alongside the Chicago Fire," Related said in its statement, "we look forward to continuing this dialogue with the local Aldermen, their constituents and other stakeholders to address any questions they may have and ensure this transformational project brings benefits to the community while respecting its surroundings."

Ald. Nicole Lee, 11th, who represents the Bridgeport and Chinatown neighborhoods, attended the town hall as an audience member. "I was really happy to be here today to hear all of the community's concerns," she said after the meeting. She also said she's looking forward to continuing the conversation.

"Relationships with the developers, with the city, between everybody, creates the most wins possible, because this should be a good thing," she said. "We need development in the city."

The Associated Press and the Tribune's Robert Channick and Brian Rogal contributed.