'S.F. Chronicle' Puts Newspaper Building Up For Sale

By: Joe Strupp For anyone involved in San Francisco newspapers, the phrase "Fifth and Mission" needs no further explanation. That is the longtime home of the San Francisco Chronicle. At least for the moment.

According to the Chronicle, the Hearst Corp. is seeking to sell the legendary site, but has no plans to sell the newspaper.

"The Hearst Corp. is weighing a sale of The Chronicle building at Fifth and Mission streets and adjoining properties in the city's SoMa district in a bid to take advantage of the area's surging commercial real estate values?" the paper reported Thursday. It added that Stephen Hearst, vice president and general manager of San Francisco Realties, Hearst's West Coast land management unit, was "committed to keeping The Chronicle in San Francisco," but "he provided no details about a potential new location."

"We've spoken to some leading developers in the last 30 days ... and will likely have a pretty good idea in terms of receiving proposals by mid- to late November," Hearst told the paper. He said he is "reasonably confident" a sale will take place.

"The corporation is exploring a sale now because of the rapid redevelopment of the area, which has included expansion of Moscone Center on Howard Street and construction of the Intercontinental Hotel at Fifth and Howard streets," the Chronicle reported. The property includes "23 parcels stretching over 4 acres south and west of The Chronicle building. In addition to the newspaper office, the land includes a number of parking lots and low-slung buildings."

The paper reports that the land, without the buildings, has been assessed at $28.14 million, according to county records cited by The Chronicle earlier this year. "But the market value of the property is significantly higher, especially with the recent development in the neighborhood, real estate experts say. Hearst declined to specify an offering price."

"We are looking at options for redeveloping our properties in downtown San Francisco," said The Chronicle's senior marketing director, Henry Ford. "The high real estate values in the city make the routine review of our portfolio of property a prudent business exercise. As is customary with this type of review, any final decision and subsequent implementation will take time.

"If we were to embrace a particular plan, our intention would be to find a suitable location to relocate The Chronicle into a renovated or new first-class, state-of-the art facility."

The paper said that the company has been considering what to do with its San Francisco properties for several years but decided to move because of the growing interest in the site. "Unsolicited offers have been rolling in," Hearst said.