Tribune Media considering sale of landmarked headquarters

The move to sell Tribune Tower raises the question of whether Chicago Tribune newspaper operations housed in the Tower, as as well as Tribune Media headquarters, might move to other locations.

The sale comes about a year after Tribune Company spunoff its print assets, including the Chicago Tribune, into a separate company named Tribune Publishing.

The potential sale of Tribune Tower follows a recent pattern in the news industry, said Rick Edmonds, Poynter’s media analyst. The historic 36-story building sits on three acres, with 305 feet of frontage on Chicago’s premiere street for shopping and entertainment, North Michigan Avenue.

In a statement Thursday, Tribune Real Estate President Murray McQueen says the landmarked building is expected to attract interest from “a broad range of private and institutional investors and developers”.

Tribune Media on Thursday said it had hired a real estate firm to help explore “all transaction options with a goal of maximizing proceeds to the company while creating a compelling mixed-use destination for the city”.

Tribune Media also includes Chicago’s WGN-AM, and the national multicast networks Antenna TV and THIS TV. Tribune Real Estate is looking at redeveloping Times Mirror Square in Los Angeles as well as sites in Orlando and Fort Lauderdale in Florida, and Costa Mesa, Calif.

The Chicago Tribune newsroom would likely remain in the city. A renowned eccentric who directed Tribune editors to use his own system of spelling, McCormick requested secret doors and passages in case the building was ever stormed.