Oprah Winfrey is selling Harpo Studios in Chicago to a developer.
Harpo Studios was the home to The Oprah Winfrey Show from 1990 through 2011, when she left her talk show to pursue other creative avenues, including a cable network. The Huffington Post reports the property will be sold for $32 million and the deal will close within the next thirty days, though the studio will remain on the property for the next two years. Currently, the studio employs 200 people. Chicago Business reports that the four-story campus attracted the interest of investors from all over the world, but developer Sterling Bay is the one to close the deal.
The move marks the end of Oprah's professional time in Chicago, where she began in 1984 as a morning talk-show host. Chicago Business notes that Winfrey now bases her cable network, OWN, in Los Angeles, though she still owns a multi-million dollar condominium in Chicago. Oprah's Harpo Studio's is credited with transforming the beaten-down area into a thriving commercial hotspot.
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