Hines pays about $31M for WGN-TV studio

Texas-based developer bought WGN-TV studio across the street from recently acquired Bradley Business Center

The WGN-TV building and Hines CEO Jeffrey Hines (WGN-TV, Hines)
The WGN-TV building and Hines CEO Jeffrey Hines (WGN-TV, Hines)

Texas developer Hines is betting that Chicago’s North Center will generate big returns. The company, after acquiring the Bradley Business Center for almost $100 million, is buying another 10-acre property across the street.

Hines Global Income Trust, an affiliate of Hines, is under contract to pay about $30.5 million for WGN-TV’s studio at 2501 West Bradley Place, Bisnow reported. The seller is R2 Companies, which gained from the sale after buying the site for $22.2 million four years ago. R2 took out a $12 million mortgage on the property, according to Bisnow.

Plans for the WGN property haven’t been undisclosed, but the television station’s lease agreement for the 131,000-square-foot building doesn’t expire for more than five years.

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The Bradley Business Center at 2500 West Bradley Place, for which Hines agreed to pay about $97.3 million, is zoned for as much as 1.6 million square feet of space, giving an option for Hines to expand the campus to WGN. The four-building, 23-acre industrial and office complex is 96 percent leased with tenants including RCN of Chicago, multiple medical offices and other businesses such as IK Gymnastics.

Hines, known for building downtown high rises, is part of a joint venture developing the 60-story Salesforce Tower at 333 West Wolf Point Plaza. The company broke ground on the 820-foot-tall tower in April last year after securing a $500 million-plus construction loan. Hines expects to complete construction at the end of next year. In the suburbs, the firm is building a 17-story, 250-unit high-end apartment building in Oak Brook at the former McDonald’s headquarters.

[Bisnow] — Connie Kim