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The LAT's printing plant near downtown LA.
Tribune Media, the Chicago company that holds the real estate that the Los Angeles Times now leases space in, has put on the market nearly 25 acres close by the DTLA Arts District that includes the last plant where the Times is printed. The Times under Tribune ownership has previously gotten rid of its printing presses in Orange County and Chatsworth, and now prints all of the papers (as well as the San Diego Union-Tribune) on the presses near downtown.
"This latest Los Angeles real estate offering is part of what Tribune Media says is a plan to accelerate monetization of its real estate portfolio," Chicago Business Journal says. In other words, Chicago is selling assets to bring in some cash. Tribune Media, which spun off the LA Times last year to a new entity called Tribune Publishing, already has listed for sale the building that contains the Times newsroom and offices, now just renters in the former home of what was for many decades a publishing and TV empire.
The site just put up for sale has seven acres of frontage on Alameda Street. One of the selling points is that the Times is a long-term tenant already in place, so a sale would not necessarily mean the presses have to move.
"L.A.'s Arts District is an incredibly vibrant area and extremely attractive to emerging businesses looking for an exciting and creative environment in which to locate," said Murray McQueen, president of Tribune Real Estate Holdings, a unit of Tribune Media. "This is one of Los Angeles' hottest areas for mixed-use retail and office development."
Last month Tribune Media also listed for sale the company's home in Chicago, Tribune Tower.
