UPDATE: Bay News Building Sold!

(Photo courtesy of Ray Johnson)

UPDATE: Massey Knakal’s Brian Hanson has told Sheepshead Bites that the buyer of the Courier Life building is a local investor and developer who has not yet decided what will be done with the building. “The new owner will look for the best way to lease the building,” he says. “Whether he will divide it into multiple spaces or leave it as one depends on the interest he receives from tenants.”

Hanson has also informed us that Courier Life is required to leave the building by Spring 2009, but acknowledges that the new owner will be flexible and allow them extra time if the company takes longer to secure a new office. That may not be necessary, though, as a source within Courier Life told Sheepshead Bites that the company will likely move shortly after the New Year.

The Courier Life building, home of the Bay News, has sold for $3.1 million after almost 11 months on the market. Courier Life has not announced the location of its new site, but rumors suggest it will be in downtown Brooklyn in the vicinity of the Metro Tech center, near Jay Street and Willoughby Street. Some, if not all, employees remain in the dark about when and where they will move.

The broker, Brian Hanson, director of sales for Massey Knakal Realty Services, says the deal closed last week, signaling that an end is near to the storied paper’s longtime presence in the Bay area. Located at 1733 Sheepshead Bay Road, the building went on sale last November as its owner, News Corporation, sought to consolidate all of its recently acquired New York local papers in one location. According to a Brooklyn View article, Courier Life’s lease was set to expire this summer.

(Original post published 09/05/08)