Wood River Finalizes Land Sale For ‘Hollywood River’ Film Studios

Wood River City Council Meeting

WOOD RIVER – Wood River will soon be home to a new hub for esports and film production.

At their Feb. 17, 2026 meeting, City Council members voted unanimously to authorize the sale of city-owned surplus real estate to WR Farm Investments LLC, the company behind the purchase and development of Hollywood River Studios. Also approved was a redevelopment agreement for a related TIF project between the city and WR Farm Investments LLC.

The company has agreed to pay $1 million to purchase approximately 105 acres of land within the former EnviroTech Business Park. The full amount is set to be paid on the official closing date of Feb. 20, 2026, after which site preparations are expected to begin within the next week or two.

The total cost to redevelop the former business park into Hollywood River Studios is $95 million. Of this amount, a maximum of $50 million will be eligible for reimbursement to the developer, according to the TIF redevelopment agreement.

To further incentivize the developer’s completion of the project, the city has also agreed to reimburse the developer with $100,000 rebates for each production studio building completed on the site, totaling up to $600,000 for the construction of all six currently planned studio buildings.

Developers describe Hollywood River Studios in their TIF application as “a new film and digital media production campus.” As previously reported on Riverbender.com, the site will include up to six film and sound production studios and an esports arena.

According to the Hollywood River Studios website, Phase 1 of the project will include the construction of an initial three sound stages within the first year, followed by an “expansion to six sound stages based on demand” over the following two to three years. Each studio would measure 24,000 square feet, with the planned esports arena totaling 12,000 square feet.

City Council members initially approved the $1 million offer from WR Farm Investments LLC on July 7, 2025. Under the land purchase agreement, the purchaser then had a “Due Diligence Period” of 180 days, during which they could have terminated the purchase agreement for any reason; this period officially ended on Jan. 3, 2026, allowing the land sale to be finalized.

A full recording of the Feb. 17, 2026 Wood River City Council meeting is available at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.

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