The Calgary Sun building has joined the Calgary Herald property on the sale block. (Image courtesy Cresa)

Canadian media giant Postmedia is selling another one of its real estate properties, having also hung a “for sale” sign on the Calgary Sun building.

The almost 100,000-square-foot building, on 2.66 acres of property, is listed for sale by commercial real estate firm Cresa at “market price” and available “immediately.” It joins the much larger Calgary Herald building (both papers are now owned and published by Postmedia (PNC-A-T)) on the market. 

“Firstly, the aggressiveness of our pricing will provide value to investors and affordability to owner occupiers,” Josh Hamill, principal at Cresa, told RENX when asked about the Sun property. “The efficient and easily accessible location with prominent exposure to Deerfoot Trail is attractive.

“Current zoning of the property allows for a wide variety of uses including warehousing, office, medical, post-secondary learning institution, winery/brewery and indoor recreation so we’re seeing interest from an expansive range of users in the market. There is an impressive amount of power available to the site, high ceilings in the warehouse area and 115 parking stalls. This property was and will once again be a Calgary landmark.”

The building’s address is 2615 12th Street N.E.

Cresa says the property is conveniently located to major arteries such as Deerfoot Trail, 32nd Avenue N.E. and 16th Avenue N.E. and is easily accessible via 12th Street N.E.

It is also a 12-minute drive to the Calgary International Airport and to downtown Calgary.

Cresa says the building has unobstructed views of the Rocky Mountains to the west and overlooks the Fox Hollow Golf Course in the Winston Heights-Mountview neighbourhood.

New interest in Calgary Herald property

Last October, a listing for the Calgary Herald building was relaunched by commercial real estate firm Avison Young. The building has been for sale since 2014 but with the relaunch, for the first time a price was publicly attached to the listing —  $20 million for the 344,843-square-foot building located at 215 16th Street S.E.

A previous brochure by Avison Young said the 2018 assessment of the building was $38.96 million.

The Herald building, constructed in 1980, sits on 12.87 acres of land between Deerfoot Trail and Memorial Drive and is made up of 166,900 square feet of office space and 177,943 square feet of industrial space.

Sources tell RENX there has been significant interest expressed in the building during the past few months. The building currently is home to the integrated newsroom which creates content for both the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun.

A sale of either building would be good news for the financially troubled Postmedia newspaper chain which is based in Toronto.

Sale of Ottawa Citizen building

In December, Ottawa-based real estate owner, developer and operator Regional Group announced it had acquired the Postmedia building at 1101 Baxter Road which is home to the Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun. The 186,000-square-foot building on 7.83 acres is located along the busy Highway 417 corridor through central Ottawa.

In releasing its fiscal first-quarter results for the period ending Nov. 30, 2018, Postmedia said it had sold the property for gross proceeds of $21 million.

Regional Group, which will lease and manage the building, said at the time newspaper production and operations would continue on the site. It also said office consolidation will create the opportunity for 25,000-35,000 square feet of new office, showroom, or retail tenancy.

“Through a long-term lease-back, we were able to assist Postmedia to secure its current  location and allow for flexibility as their space requirements change while unlocking the real estate value in the property,” said Bernie Myers, senior vice-president of real property, Regional Group, in a news release.