After downsizing about half the workers in the newsroom, it was inevitable that the Sun-Sentinel would downsize its offices too.
With little fanfare (a small blurb is about all it got), the largest daily in Broward County announced last week it was leaving the offices at the New River Center at 200 East Las Olas where it has been located -- and has had its name atop one of the Fort Lauderdale's signature buildings -- for 22 years.
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It's moving just a few blocks east to the slightly taller but far less majestic Broward Financial Center at the corner of Broward Boulevard and Federal Highway. And its cutting its office space by, you guessed it, about half. From about 56,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. Now the Templeton Financial has its banner on the building; there's no word on whether that will change when the move happens at the end of the year.
The change in location is another sign of the changing times. It was predictable that that the Sun-Sentinel wouldn't occupy that rarefied real estate during the years to come, mainly because it's tied to the bankrupt Tribune Co., which has a debt of about $13 billion. Tribune is expected to come out its messy bankruptcy to be largely owned by, you guessed it, a bank, JP Morgan, and some hedge funds that were major creditors in Sam Zell's disastrous 2007 buyout of the company.
What a legacy for Zell. Bought it with other people's money, laid off hundreds of reporters, and drove it right into bankruptcy. He lived up to his nickname all right: The Grave Dancer.
You have to wonder how much longer the company will occupy its own national landmark, the Tribune Tower in Chicago, built in 1922.
The layoffs continue -- some at the top. It was reported yesterday that the Tribune Vice President of Publishing, Bob Gremillion, former Sun-Sentinel publisher who continued to oversee the Sentinel and WSFL-TV, has been laid off. There's speculation the company's assets will be sold off. We'll see what else the Sun-Sentinel's future holds.
-- For your reference, here's the list of the top ten tallest buildings in the Fort Lauderdale skyline:
10: Tower 101 (101 NE Third Avenue, 259 feet) 9. One Corporate Center (110 East Broward Boulevard, 290 feet) 8. New River Center (Soon-to-be-former Sun-Sentinel digs; 297 feet tall) 7. National City Center (200 East Broward Boulevard, 300 feet tall) 6. Broward Financial Center (Sun-Sentinel's new digs, 324 feet) 5. One Financial Plaza (100 Southeast Third Street, 374 feet) 4. Bank of America Plaza (401 East Las Olas Boulevard, Scott Rothstein's old digs, 407 feet) 3. 110 Tower (110 SE Sixth Street, 410 feet) 2. Las Olas Grand (420 feet) 1. Las Olas River House (452 feet)