Miami Herald Inks 158,000-SF Lease, Buys Land

MIAMI—The Miami Herald Company has just found a new home. The newspaper publisher has agreed to relocate to a 158,265-square-foot office building in Doral. The new Herald property formerly served as the headquarters of US Southern Command, and will be renamed One Herald Plaza at Wespointe Business Park.

The Miami Herald also completed the purchase of an adjacent six-acre site directly to the building’s east. The site will be home to the company’s 119,000-square-foot production building. The Herald needed to move because Malaysia-based Gentig Group purchased the land on which it sits to build a $3 billion mixed-use project on the prime waterfront land.

“There was significant time pressure placed on the Miami Herald to move into a new facility, so this deal had to get done quickly,” Al Dotson, partner at Bilzin Sumberg and attorney representing the landlord, GPA-1, LP, tells GlobeSt.com. “Because Bilzin Sumberg has been involved with this property since its development over 15 years ago, we had the necessary background to move swiftly and create a lease structure amenable to both parties.”

Ultimately Bilzin was able to restructure the deal from a pure lease to a lease and a separate purchase transaction, with McClatchy and the Miami Herald purchasing land on which to construct its production facility. The Miami Herald Media Co. will remain in place at its current home in downtown Miami through May 24, 2013.

Blanca Commercial Real Estate president and CEO Tere Blanca, vice chairman Hank Klein and executive vice presidents Danet Linares and David Valdez represented the Miami Herald Co. Jose Hevia of Aligned Properties provided strategic counsel on the project’s construction and development components. Jose Juncadella of Fairchild Partners advised on the industrial market. David Steinfeld, senior associate at CBRE, represented Westpointe Business Park owner GPA-I, LP, a Tennessee-based limited partnership.

“After surveying the market and determining the factors of greatest importance to the Miami Herald Media Company, it soon became clear that Westpointe Business Park offered the perfect mix of functionality, flexibility and access,” Blanca said in a statement. “The project’s setting in the fast-growing Doral business district and close proximity to South Florida’s major expressways will enable the Miami Herald Media Company to continue to advance its mission as South Florida’s largest news source.”

Given its history as the former home of the military, the Miami Herald’s future headquarters is equipped with a number of design and construction features that should enhance productivity and ensure operations continue under any circumstance, including backup generators, high impact bullet-proof glass and an uninterrupted power supply system. The building also offers ample on-site parking for employees and visitors.