It's Official: The Tribune Tower Has Been Sold For Redevelopment
By Stephen Gossett in News on Sep 28, 2016 6:48PM
Just a month after news emerged that the Tribune Tower would be sold and earmarked for mixed-use redevelopment, the transaction has been completed.
LA developers CIM Group purchased the historic tower—plus additional adjacent property—from Tribune Media for $240 million. CIM said the in-the-mail makeover could include “retail, residential, office space and a hotel,” according to the Tribune. The regrettably named (and sometimes regrettably operated) Tronc, which owns the Chicago Tribune, is still under lease at the tower through June of next year.
The tower takes up a relatively small portion (737,000 square feet) of the acquired 2.4 million square-foot property, which also includes the WGN Radio and Television Buildings. Avi Shemesh, co-founder of CIM, told the Tribune the company intends to maintain the buildings “as much as possible.” But CIM did confirm that a parking lot on the property will see new construction, expected to begin in 2018. A map of the property and aerial layout can be here, in the Tribune’s coverage.
Tribune Media also sold off two additional real-estate assets on Wednesday: the Los Angeles Times Building, which went to a Canadian developer, and the Olympic Plant, also in LA. The company has sold nine properties for a total of $519 million this year, according to CBS Chicago.
The Tribune Tower was designed by architects Raymond Hood and John Mead Howells and built in 1925. The Gothic Revival icon was designated a Chicago Landmark in 1989.
Coupled with more news of the Chicago Reader's financial struggles, today feels like a tough one for print journalism. Maybe take John Oliver's advice from last month's Tronc callout and pick up a paper today.