Production studio would help make Chicago “Hollywood of the Midwest”

A TV and film producer who wants to make Chicago “the Hollywood of the Midwest” is planning a production studio on the South Side, hoping to seize on the strong demand for soundstages from coast to coast.

Derek Dudley filed a zoning application for Regal Mile Studios, a complex that would rise in South Shore and cost up to $70 million, Crain’s reported.

The entire project would cover more than seven acres along South Stony Island Avenue, between East 77th Street and South Chicago Avenue. The first phase would include six soundstages encompassing over 200,000 square feet.

Dudley, who has a team of investors for the project, said there was no reason the city couldn’t be the “Hollywood of the Midwest,” he told Crain’s. He is a producer on Showtime’s “The Chi,” a series filmed in North Lawndale’s Cinespace Chicago Film Studios. The report noted Cinespace is undergoing a major expansion.

Dudley’s proposal comes as investors continue to gobble up studio space and plan new developments.

Last month, Knickpoint Ventures began searching for a partner for its $200 million production studio and office complex redevelopment at the former Marshall Field’s warehouse.

In Los Angeles, there has been a flurry of big projects and acquisitions. This month alone, Atlas Capital Group said it would build a $650 million, 17-soundstage complex in Downtown L.A.; and Bardas Investment Group and Bain Capital Real Estate want to build a $450 million production studio and office complex in Hollywood.

In March, a group of potential buyers emerged for Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York City. Bids for the 11 production stages that total 150,000 square feet, in addition to 325,000 square feet of offices, value the property at around $600 million.

[Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman