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Cubs Owners Buy 3 More Wrigley Rooftops

By Ariel Cheung | May 21, 2015 3:32pm
 Fans watch the Cubs play from rooftops in Wrigleyville.
Fans watch the Cubs play from rooftops in Wrigleyville.
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David Banks/Getty Images

WRIGLEYVILLE — Just three Wrigleyville rooftops remain under independent ownership after the owners of the Chicago Cubs purchased three more buildings near Wrigley Field.

The Ricketts family bought 3637, 3617 and 3619 N. Sheffield Ave., the Cubs confirmed Thursday. The family, which has a 95 percent stake in the team, paid an undisclosed amount for the buildings and their rooftop businesses.

"The Ricketts family has said in the past they are interested in reasonable opportunities to purchase rooftop property and are willing to pay a fair price. In this case, they were able to acquire three buildings," Cubs spokesman Julian Green said in an email.

The sale was first reported in the Tribune.

Skybox on Sheffield and Lakeview Baseball Club, two rooftop businesses in the midst of a federal lawsuit against the Cubs, are now among the only ones not owned by the Ricketts family. Murphy's Rooftop — above Murphy's Bleachers — is the third.

"The rooftop situation has been a political and legal morass for more than a decade, and the Ricketts family will remain interested in opportunities which make sound business sense," Green said.

The Cubs have feuded with rooftop owners for more than a decade, since the team signed a 20-year agreement with the rooftops. Multiple lawsuits and legal woes have followed, the most recent being an indictment against the owner of Skybox on Sheffield.

In January, the Ricketts family bought buildings at 3639 N. Sheffield Ave., 3643-45 N. Sheffield and 1032-34 W. Waveland St.

The Cubs and Wrigley Field are 95 percent owned by a trust established for the benefit of the family of Joe Ricketts, owner and CEO of DNAinfo.com. Joe Ricketts has no direct involvement in the management of the iconic team.

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