Yesterday, Publisher Karen Crotchfelt said the building is being offered for sale as the paper seeks smaller quarters more suitable for its present staff size. Of the 1,073 people the Star and Gannett employ in Central Indiana, about 650 work at the site. Crotchfelt said the daily would look for new space also downtown.
The building's assessed value is $21.3 million, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal.
GCI has more than $100 million in real estate on the block as it lowers operating costs amid continued declines in advertising revenue. Only last month, The Des Moines Register announced a deal to sell its 100-year-old headquarters.
[Photo: IBJ]
I've heard some rumors around the office that the downtown Detroit News/Free Press/DMP building is for sale, too. Problem is there is alot of vacant real estate in downtown Detroit plus the Free Press building, which was vacated years ago and was eventually sold, is still vacant.
ReplyDeleteYou know, no one is too blame. Not really. The newspaper business is dying, or at the best changing in ways that cannot support even a building downtown.
ReplyDeleteIt's just sad. That's all. Sad.
Lets get rid of the Crystal Palace and the lot next door. Put the few journo left downtown on DC like normal news orgs.
ReplyDeleteIf selling some real estate saves jobs, then sell, sell, sell. Most journalists can work from home anyway - better still from the street where the stories are - no news in the office!!!
ReplyDeleteI read this comment on WHTR's website: "Since the Indianapolis Star is currently in the proces of having the paper printed out-of-state, the printing facility on Georgetown Road has had a FOR SALE sign for some time. Now they are selling the downtown building and moving the very small staff into a much smaller building." Is it true the printing press is for sale?
ReplyDelete8:32 a.m. said it well and, really, said it all. No one is wearing a black hat here. It's simply sad. But few shed tears over the mom and pop shoe stores and hardware stores put out of business by chain stores, and I expect no public outcry over the death of newspapers, either. Though readers here understand well that the public trust, First Amendment duties of newspapers put them in a different class from shoes and screws.
ReplyDeleteHow was it that Kurt Vonnegut put it? Oh yeah, I remember: "So it goes."
11:39 Most printing presses are now being hauled off to scrap yards. There just isn't much of a market for them anymore.
ReplyDeleteNot true Jim, most presses are sold to third world countries, they buy them up like candy. As for the Star's press for sale, not sure about that, though I herd it needs millions in press upgrades
ReplyDeleteI have sat in meetings with stubborn-ass OC members and when I suggest we will be all-digital w/n 3-4 years they shoot me down.
ReplyDelete"We will ALWAYS have a print product!" they shout.
News flash: No we won't. At least not daily. Maybe a Sunday magazine type product and other special sections, but not a daily.
Rumor has it, the Star will be printed in Lafayette Indiana, on the berliner format, much cheaper labor and newsprint cost
ReplyDeleteI so remember vividly the day I found out Gannett had gobbled up The Star. I found out the news from a journalist friend who heard it from some sad person at The Star. Actually, she told me that an innocent Intern had found out just by surfing, and told the newsroom staff. Always wondered if that was true.
ReplyDelete10:30 Gannett won't keep any employees no matter how much money they get. Gannett doesn't invest in people.
ReplyDeleteToo funny. Buy an old PHOTOMAT - that should be plenty of space for where you're heading as a company.
ReplyDelete2:28 and why would be a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteTo take the macro view for a moment, here's an exchange between Ben Bradlee and Jim Lehrer during a 2006 interview:
ReplyDeleteLEHRER: But do you think that the newspapers, faced with this decline in circulation, should re-examine what they're doing?
BRADLEE: They're examining, re-examining it. Boy, that's Topic A. Every paper you go to, they've just had a meeting, and they're discussing what to do about falling circulation. And there's one word that's the answer.
LEHRER: What is it?
BRADLEE: Stories.
LEHRER: Stories?
BRADLEE: Good stories.
LEHRER: So when you say "stories," what stories are they not doing, kinds of stories...
BRADLEE: I mean, they're just well-written stories, some story that makes you, you know, say, "I'll be damned. That's a good story."
LEHRER: Yes, "I didn't know that."
BRADLEE: Yes, "I didn't know that," or, "That's beautifully written," or, "I feel really better for having read that," "That really piqued my curiosity."
The Star has the staff and talent to do it. A recent story on high school graduation waivers by Scott Elliott and thought provoking columns by Dan Carpenter are examples.
Could this be an effort to reduce liquid assets in preparation for a strategic bankruptcy?
ReplyDelete1:12 This actually increases liquid assets, because it converts real estate to cash.
ReplyDeleteWhat has been happening to the liquid assets? It appears to me that the cash has been flowing out to management staff in the form of inflated salaries and bonuses and to investors in the form of dividends. I don't see evidence of long term investment in the product. Am I missing something?
ReplyDeleteSomeone earlier invoked Kurt Vonnegut. The sad irony is that he grew up as an Indy Star reader and his first writing "job" was as a high school journalist. I wonder what he would say now.
1:12 the answer is no? Why would you say that when cash flow is strong.
ReplyDeleteFor the right price, every site is for sale that includes the palace.
ReplyDeleteSellmthe Crystal Palace. We're already leasing out 100,000 square feet of space.
ReplyDeleteI recall at a meeting of ADs and MDDs at corporate HQ (before Crystal Palace)Gary Watson was asked, "Would Gannett would ever consider selling 'such-and-such' newspaper?" (I forget the actual property mentioned.)His reply was to the point..."everything is for sale."
ReplyDeleteGannett bought the Tyson's property why? Cause it was leasing in Rosslyn they say. We'll there are man yin the USA that bought not that long ago ... that wished they were leasing today. As today they have overpriced real estate worth 1/2 what they paid.
ReplyDeleteAnd when a large majority of the Tyson's property is leased? Means why not sell that? Granted will not be for close what they owe on it/paid for it, but oh well.
Or just move back to Rochester; or move to Detroit or Cleveland.
The Greenville News' building was put up for sale a few weeks ago. It wouldn't surprise me if we see many more Gannett properties up for sale. The company probably feels it's more comfortable being in a far more liquid position not owning any real estate. I know I feel more comfortable being in a liquid position as well--alcohol.
ReplyDeletesell,sell,sell
ReplyDeleteWho would want to buy these old buildings...our building is falling apart...they have done any up keep...windows are falling out...plaster is falling off the walls...bricks are falling off the exterior...we actually had roof shingles coming off and landing on the sidewalk in front of the main lobby door
ReplyDeleteThe properties are being sold to pump up the corporate balance sheet. Think of it this way. Gannett is selling the furniture to pay the mortgage. When all the furniture is gone, so is the company!!!
ReplyDeleteGannett's print media is failing. They want to go totally digital, but who in their right mind would PAY for digital media? There are so many free sources for news now. Gannett needs to seriously consider what direction they are going before they fold completely.
ReplyDelete