[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/business/106...071708.article

Inland makes bid for Wrigley Field

July 17, 2008Recommend (10)

BY DAVID ROEDER AND FRAN SPIELMAN Staff Reporters

A leading Chicago-area real estate firm has submitted an offer to buy Wrigley Field, betting that lease payments from the Chicago Cubs and eventual improvements to the ballpark will make it a decent investment.

Sources said Thursday that Inland Real Estate Group of Companies Inc., based in Oak Brook, has turned in the offer to Cubs owner Tribune Co. The amount of the offer couldn’t be learned, but it is believed to be close to $300 million, the sum Tribune Chairman Sam Zell wants out of Wrigley if he sells the team and the property separately.

......One source close to the Cubs sale process said the team has received 20 offers for the park and 10 for the team or the combination of the team and the stadium. Financial experts have said that the Cubs-Wrigley combination could command more than $1 billion.

........Cosenza added that bidders should not figure on money from selling the name. “Whoever ends up with that ballpark wouldn’t want to be in Chicago if they change the name,” he said............

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