Harpo Studios: Home Of The Oprah Winfrey Show Sold For $32 Million

Harpo Studios located on the West Side of Chicago, and the home of The Oprah Winfrey show until 2011, has been sold to a well-known developer for a massive $32 million.

The sale was confirmed in an official statement from the Harpo offices stating:

“We have entered into a purchasing agreement with Sterling Bay for the four-building Harpo Studios campus in Chicago’s West Loop. 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.”

Sterling Bay is not new to the Chicago area and is well known. It has purchased a number of large properties there, including a 10-story building just two blocks away from Harpo Studios.

Harry Huzenis, who works at the JRG Capital Partners in Chicago, spoke about Sterling Bay’s strategy in purchasing the studios: “If [Sterling Bay] is going to work their strategy to its obvious conclusion, which is really controlling that part of the West Loop, it required owning those pieces.”

Right now, the Harpo Studios campus employs around 200 people in its 170,000 square feet of offices. Those people are to keep their jobs at the site for at least two years following the sale. It remains to be seen what will happen after that period.

In addition to the Harpo Studios, Oprah owns a massive condo in Water Tower Place which is also on the market to be sold for around $7.75 million. Once she sells the Water Tower Place she will no longer own any property in Chicago.

Oprah Winfrey is a true media mogul, apart from being a television host and author. She has a net worth of $2.9 billion. She rose from a poor background and had to contend with both abuse and prejudice to become one of the most influential people on the planet. Today she earns an annual salary of $315 million thanks to her media empire.