Los Angeles Times Building Sold To Canadian Developer
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The iconic Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles has been sold to a Canadian developer.
Tribune Media Co. finalized the sale to Vancouver development firm Omni on Monday for $105 million, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported. The sale price could rise by $10 million if Omni is able to secure permits to build apartments in a part of the property built in the 1970s that is currently home to a Bank of America branch and offices, reports say.
The sale includes not only the Times' iconic Art Deco headquarters but a handful of interconnected buildings that constitute an entire city block known as Times Mirror Square. Omni plans to redevelop the area into a "bustling, mixed-use center," the Los Angeles Times reports.
Times Mirror Square has been home to the Times since 1935, when the paper was published by the wealthy Chandler family. The paper was sold to Chicago-based Tribune Co. in 2000 and has in recent years been beset by financial problems, including Tribune's 2008 bankruptcy.
Tribune has recently focused on selling properties in and out of the state: alongside Times Mirror Square, Tribune also sold its printing facility along Olympic Boulevard and the Tribune Tower in Chicago. The three properties sold for $430 million, the Times reported.
The L.A. Times' lease in the building runs until 2018, the Times reported. At that time, the paper has the option of extending for two consecutive five-year terms.