Chicago Fire's New Stadium Clears $94M Enclosure Permit

The City of Chicago issued a $94.0 million permit on Oct. 20 for the enclosure of Chicago Fire FC’s new soccer stadium at 1331 S. Wells St., the South Loop site known as The 78. Permit #101084000 covers a four-story stadium structure on piles, with no basement, and names Pepper Construction Company as general contractor and Chicago Fire Stadium, LLC as the owner of record.

The enclosure permit follows a sequence of earlier permits for the same stadium: piles, shallow foundations and a superstructure permit have each already been issued at the address, according to the city’s permit dataset. YIMBY Chicago has tracked the sequence since a tent permit and the foundation pile permit were issued earlier this year, reporting that the stadium is designed by Gensler, will seat more than 22,000 fans, and is being built as a privately funded project estimated at $750 million. Master developer Related Midwest is building out The 78 as a mixed-use neighborhood around the stadium, which will carry the name McDonald’s Park.

Why it matters

For the construction trade, the enclosure permit marks the next phase of a stadium that has moved from piles to superstructure to enclosure inside a single year, a fast sequence for a project of this size. Pepper Construction holds the general contract across multiple permits at the site, meaning subcontractor packages for enclosure, mechanical and interior buildout will route through it. The $94.0 million figure is the applicant’s declared construction cost for this phase only, not the stadium’s total budget.

The numbers

Declared valuation on this permit: $94,000,000. Structure: 4-story stadium, no basement, on piles. Address: 1331 S. Wells St., community area 33, Ward 3. Owner of record: Chicago Fire Stadium, LLC. General contractor: Pepper Construction Company. Reported total project cost (YIMBY Chicago): approximately $750 million, privately funded. Reported capacity: more than 22,000 seats.

What’s next

Earlier permits already cover piles, shallow foundations and superstructure at the site; this enclosure permit is the next phase in that sequence, and interior buildout permits should follow. Chicago development watchers expect the stadium, to be named McDonald’s Park, to open in time for the 2028 MLS regular season, per YIMBY Chicago’s reporting. This desk will track subsequent permits as the project moves from enclosure to interior buildout.