The parent company of the Dallas Morning News, one of the state's largest newspapers, has struck a deal to sell its North Texas plant to a private investor in a $43.5 million deal as it relocates its printing operations to a smaller, leased facility to cut costs.
The sale to 2201 Luna Road LLC for the industrial facility at 3900 Plano Parkway in Plano, Texas, a suburb about 20 miles north of downtown Dallas, is scheduled to close on or before Feb. 1, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Last week, the Dallas Morning News notified the Texas Workforce Commission it planned to lay off 75 workers, or about 14% of its workforce, at the facility by Feb. 1 as it previously told investors was part of its plan to return to profitability.
By relocating its printing facilities to a leased facility in the nearby suburb of Carrollton, Texas, the company said it expects to save $5 million annually. This is the last piece of real estate or so-called "long-lived asset" owned by the media outlet, according to its latest quarterly filing.
Daily newspapers have been parting with their legacy properties for more than a decade with the Seattle Times having traded in two properties for millions in 2013 and a Boston newspaper selling off its real estate only five years later as media outlets transitioned to high-tech, smaller spaces to house the production of news.
The Dallas Morning News sold its former headquarters to Dallas-based real estate investor Ray Washburne in 2019, joining other Texas newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Austin American-Statesman, in selling off their one-time corporate homes to make way for redevelopment.
The Plano industrial property was built in phases beginning in 1980 and now totals 620,000 square feet on a 29-acre site. The plant was last valued for the Collin County tax rolls at $17.7 million, with nearly $10 million in additional business personal property at the site.
The registered agent of the buying entity, 2201 Luna Road, is Yaoyao Lu, according to state records. The potential deal is subject to an inspection of the facility, with the buyer able to terminate the agreement until 5 p.m. on Jan. 17. The price tag includes more than $1.3 million in earnest money and $300,000 of nonrefundable deposits, the daily newspaper told investors.
The new owner did not immediately disclose its plans for the Plano property. The Dallas Morning News disclosed a short-term leaseback on a portion of the property where it plans to store items and help transition its operations to the leased facility early next year.
The Dallas Morning News did not immediately respond to an interview request from CoStar News seeking additional information on the potential real estate transaction.
"The new facility is expected to be operational in early 2025, and until then, all operations will remain in the Plano facility," the company said in its latest quarterly report. "This transition will allow the company to keep its operations in North Texas and continue to produce a seven-day print edition for the foreseeable future."