Johns Hopkins University to Purchase Newseum for $373M

WASHINGTON, DC—Johns Hopkins University has agreed to acquire the Newseum building at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. here from the Freedom Forum for $372.5 million and will consolidate graduate school programs currently housed at four buildings near Dupont Circle into the property.

The university states that if the purchase deal closes, it will transform the building into a modern, world-class interdisciplinary academic facility anchored by JHU’s School of Advanced International Studies. Johns Hopkins intends to relocate its D.C.-based graduate programs and more than 3,000 students to a single campus at the more than 600,000-square-foot building that it says will ill create new opportunities at SAIS, the Carey Business School, the School of Nursing, and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Advanced Academic Programs.

The financially struggling journalism museum—Newseum, will continue to operate at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. through 2019. Johns Hopkins says that construction on its facilities at the property could begin by the fall of 2020 and will take about two-and-a-half years to complete, which would put the initial occupancy of the building in early 2023. When completed, it will contain more than 400,000 square feet of space.

“With the acquisition and renovation of the Newseum, we will have an unparalleled opportunity to bring all of our current D.C.-based Johns Hopkins graduate programs together in a single, landmark, state-of-the-art building,” Johns Hopkins University president Ronald J. Daniels wrote in a message to the university community today. “Moreover, the renovated building will provide opportunities for every academic division of the university to pursue research and educational activities in Washington—complementing and drawing on those conducted on our flagship Baltimore campuses and deepening our connections to debates over national and global policy.”

The sale concludes a 16-month strategic review of the Freedom Forum’s operations announced in August 2017 that included the possible sale of its flagship Newseum property. The Freedom Forum relocated the Newseum from Rosslyn, VA to 555 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2008, and since then has committed more than $600 million to build and fund the Newseum.

Back in August 2017, Jeffrey Herbst, who led the Newseum for the prior two years, stepped down as president and CEO. Jan Neuharth, chair and CEO of the Freedom Forum, which was founded in July 4, 1991 by the late former Gannett Co. chairman and USA Today founder Al Neuharth, led the strategic review that led to the sale of the Newseum to Johns Hopkins University. The Freedom Forum put the Newseum building on the market for sale in early 2018.

“This was a difficult decision, but it was the responsible one,” said Neuharth. “We remain committed to continuing our programs—in a financially sustainable way—to champion the five freedoms of the First Amendment and to increase public awareness about the importance of a free and fair press. With today’s announcement, we can begin to explore all options to find a new home in the Washington, DC area.”

Johns Hopkins currently owns three buildings on Massachusetts Avenue along Embassy Row in Northwest D.C., near Dupont Circle: The Nitze Building at 1740, the primary home of SAIS; the Rome Building at 1619, also used primarily by SAIS; the Bernstein-Offit Building at 1717, which contains offices and classrooms used by SAIS, AAP, and the Carey Business School; the Carey Business School also leases space in a fourth building, located at 1625 Massachusetts Ave.

Collectively, those buildings are home to more than 3,300 Johns Hopkins faculty, staff and students. That includes 1,300 individuals at SAIS, which has occupied its Massachusetts Avenue home since 1950.

The purchase of 555 Pennsylvania Ave. will be financed by a combination of proceeds from the eventual sale of the Massachusetts Avenue properties, institutional funds, and philanthropic support, JHU president Daniels stated. A report in the Washington Post states that part of the purchase will be supported by a gift from billionaire Michael Bloomberg.