Newspaper publisher MediaNews Group is putting out a for-sale sign – for its real estate.
The country’s second largest newspaper publisher by circulation is seeking buyers for 70 office buildings, printing plants and other properties totaling 1.7 million square feet in cities around the U.S. as it is looking to finish off a years-long effort to raise money by selling its real estate and leasing smaller spaces.
“We just don’t have the need for as much real estate,” said Steve Rossi, president of Digital First Media, which manages MediaNews Group.
The publisher, which is being advised on the sales by Twenty Lake Holdings and Praxis Commercial, owns small and mid-sized papers around the U.S. ranging from the San Jose Mercury News to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Many of the company’s aging office buildings and other properties have high vacancy given cutbacks over the decades in the sector. Now the company plans to lease back space in about one-third of its facilities that it’s selling, while it is looking to lease elsewhere upon vacating the rest of the portfolio, company executives said.
It is listing the properties for about $85 million.
