A little piece of Americana is being sold to a Chicago developer as Oprah Winfrey is selling Harpo Studios.
According to the Associated Press, Harpo Studios in Chicago is being sold to a developer, but the studio will remain on the property for another two years. Currently the 3.5-acre campus is home to some 200 employees.
Winfrey filmed her famous talk show at the studio from 1990 to 2011.
“We have entered into a purchasing agreement with Sterling Bay for the four-building Harpo Studios campus in Chicago's West Loop,” Harpo told Crain's Chicago Business in a statement. “We expect the transaction to be closed in 30 days. The property will be leased back to Harpo for two years and the studio will continue to produce programming for OWN.”
In 1984, Winfrey came to Chicago to host morning talk show A.M. Chicago. After only a month, the show skyrocketed to No. 1 in the market and they renamed it The Oprah Winfrey Show a year later.
AP notes that the property will sell for about $32 million, Crain's reported Sunday. Harpo said it expects to close the transaction in 30 days.
Read more at the Associated Press and Crain's Chicago Business.