Boston Herald property

[PaulC]

An April 5th Boston Courant article about Harrison Ave in the South End had this sentence:

the district has seen big changes in the form of a sale of Boston Herald property

Any one know anything about this or is it a mistake?

[Scott]

The Herald still has no other place to print their paper. The deal to print it in Chicopee at the Wall Street Journal is dead because they cannot get both papers on the street in time for the 6AM delivery promised to advertisers.

I always thought that was bullshit anyway and the Herald was just trying to get the Globe to bid on the work considering the Globe has the presses and equipment, and contracts to print the NY Times, NY Post, Brockton Enterprise and the Patriot Ledger- as well as their own product.

In this day and age it is possible for smaller newspapers to continue a print edition by out sourcing the production operation. Page layouts and plate negatives are delivered electronically and plates are physically created at the job shop. As long as the paper sticks to a broadsheet format and basic folio of say, 2 sections- 8x8 pages, the printer can do the press run, change the plates and run a whole different paper quickly and efficiently.

The Herald as it stands has very little modern color capacity and the word is that the Globe would like to keep them around because they feel if they went under it would hurt them too but if the Globe starts printing the Herald the color capacity goes thru the roof and suddenly the Herald is a direct competitor with the Globe for a shrinking market for full-page color ads.

[stellarfun]

Originally Posted by PaulC

An April 5th Boston Courant article about Harrison Ave in the South End had this sentence: Any one know anything about this or is it a mistake?

I looked at the Registry of Deeds site for 300 Harrison and while there appears to be an ownership transfer around June 2007, from the names, it looks to be from one Herald entity to another.

[Scott]

According to an anonymous source the Herald was offered to the Globe but the Globe realizing they are the only game in town big enough to do their order will probably low-ball the Herald after the Herald exhausts every other possibility.

Those possibilities include buying the Cape Cod Times mainly for their printing facility but that is very costly and that they had people down yesterday to look at the viability of building a mixed use complex where they are in the South End with only production facilities (pressroom, mailroom, loading docks...).

[JimboJones]

Paul, can you call or email the reporter, to find out? I did a Suffolk Deeds search, as well, and found nothing, either under 300 Harrison or 1 Herald, and nothing under Mr Purcell's name or under Boston Herald, in any incarnation.

It's possible that the Herald owned land down near BMC, since in the Courant article the same sentence talks about that part of Harrison.

The Suffolk Deeds site did show a lease being signed by Patrick Parcell that ran from April 2006 - April 2008. So, presumably it would need to be renewed?

Unless they sold ...

(Also, the article says "a" Herald property, I think - not necessarily the big one.)

[pelhamhall]

I am not sure who made the winning bid, and I'm not sure how much (if any) of this is public knowledge. I would imagine GTI Properties would be chomping at the bit to get its hands on the Herald site and I heard that National Development also submitted an offer. It's a big, sprawling site, in a suddenly hot area with Rocca, the new BSC, etc injecting new life. I imagine a P&S is signed with somebody but that the deed has not transfered yet because the sale has not been made.

[Scott]

The best thing that could happen to the Herald is to find a local shop with better color capacity to print the paper and move the headquarters somewhere cheap. Then sell the land and a developer can worry about contaminated soil and removing old presses. The new color capacity will allow the paper to compete for the big 4 color ads with the Globe. Imagine the Herald as a 80 page full color tabloid.

[Scott]

The worst thing that could happen to the Herald is if they cannot find a new production facility, the Globe says no and the Herald continues to lose readers and stays right where it is. It may try some new equipment but it is too little too late. The development will take decades and will be built on the bones of the dead newspaper.

[JimboJones]

We all weren't paying attention!

From an earlier ArchBoston thread (link at bottom):

Boston Herald property sold
By Christopher Rowland, Globe Staff | August 7, 2007

Boston Herald publisher Pat Purcell is teaming with a development firm to replace the newspaper's plant near the Southeast Expressway at the edge of Boston's South End, in a deal that could include residential, retail, and office space.

Purcell has sold the Herald building and the 6.6-acre parcel it sits on for an undisclosed price to a joint venture that includes himself and National Development, which is headquartered in Newton Lower Falls.

While it will potentially add a major new feature to Boston's southern skyline, the deal also marks another step in Purcell's efforts to transform Herald assets into cash and streamline the tabloid's operations. Purcell considers the Herald's antiquated printing presses obsolete in a time when newspapers can be electronically transmitted to be printed anywhere, said Purcell spokesman George Regan. The deal allows the current operation to remain in place for several years while the newspaper is relocated.

More: http://www.archboston.org/community/...ead.php?t=1772

[Cojapo]

How close is this to the Postal Annex? I am curious since "it will potentially add a major new feature to Boston's southern skyline", could we see a continuation of the skyline from the Postal Annex to this?
That would be kinda neat!

[Ron Newman]

Not especially close. The I-90/93 interchange and a lot of railroad tracks are between these two pieces of property. You cannot reasonably walk between them in any direct way.

[Scott]

You can walk up to Broadway and get on the bike trail but that isn't really close.

To answer your question, between the Postal Annex, the Herald and the South Bay development there should, one day, be a big difference in the skyline from the south.

Also whatever may go along the Greenway at the garage will be visible because the Harbor Towers stand alone from the south.

[stellarfun]

There was a long profile in today's Washington Post on the Herald, concluding with this:

But the Herald, which has shuttered its Washington bureau, is hardly positioned to take advantage. Its aging presses frequently break down. The 125-person staff -- one-third the size of the Globe's -- makes little effort to cover the suburbs. Every out-of-town reporting trip has to be weighed against the meager budget.


And a depleted staff is more prone to slip-ups. The Herald recently picked up a rewrite of a Huffington Post blog by humorist Andy Borowitz, headlined "Cheney Challenges Hillary to Hunting Contest." The paper had to admit that its story was "based on a blogger's satire."


In a move freighted with symbolism, the Herald plans to abandon its headquarters, outsource its printing and move to rented quarters. For now, though, the underdog paper is still chasing the sickos and pervs.
"I don't think it's time to give up the ghost," Convey says.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...042702290.html

[stellarfun]

The Globe also had a story. The Globe said the print plant site is six acres. The Globe also said they had been approached by the Herald to print the paper using the Globe's presses, but decided not to.

Herald publisher to discuss plans to print offsite
By Frank Quaratiello
Saturday, June 21, 2008

Boston Herald publisher Patrick J. Purcell said yesterday he?ll meet with representatives from the paper?s 11 unions on Tuesday to discuss plans to print the newspaper elsewhere.

Purcell said the paper has ?no definitive agreement? yet to print the Herald offsite. Published reports have pointed to the Wall Street Journal?s Chicopee printing facility, among others, as possibilities. The Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch?s News Corp. [NWS] Purcell formerly worked for Murdoch.

Purcell would not comment on the impact of any move on staff.

?My primary goal is keep Boston a two-newspaper town,? he said. ?Our readers rely on us every day. Our message and our philosophy are a vital component to life in this community.?

While Purcell is planning to redevelop the current Herald site - a city block bounded by Harrison Avenue and Albany, Herald and Traveler streets - he cited the plant?s 50-year-old presses as a primary reason for the move.

?We may be the only metro paper in the country with the majority of our presses 50 years old and it shows,? said Purcell. ?The people working on them have done a phenomenal job, but there?s only so much you can do with equipment that is 50 years old, and they know it, too.?

Purcell said the Herald, which has remained profitable despite circulation and ad revenue declines, has begun looking at possible sites to relocate editorial, commercial and other staff. He said he would ?prefer to stay in Boston? and that the earliest any move would happen would be mid-2009.

http://www.bostonherald.com/business...icleid=1102197