Firm hired for Herald-Tribune HQ search

The New York-based parent company of the Herald-Tribune Media Group has retained a commercial real estate brokerage firm to help negotiate a future headquarters for the media group — a move that could result in its exit from its iconic three-story office building in Sarasota's downtown.

Gatehouse Media's decision to hire Bell Tenant Champions of Syracuse, N.Y., could mark the end of its tenancy in the 1741 Main St. building, where it has been since 2005.

The Herald-Tribune's lease for its space in the 55,000-square-foot building expired earlier this year, but it successfully negotiated an extension until April 2018.

Bell Tenant's hiring came just weeks before the Herald-Tribune was expected to sign a long-term lease renewal for roughly 30,000 square feet, according to commercial real estate sources.

The Herald-Tribune would have consolidated operations on the building's second floor, from the third, and an open-air stairway would have been eliminated by owner Stephens Capital, the Little Rock, Ark.-based investment firm that owns the 1741 Main building.

Stephens also was co-owner of the media company when it was owned by Halifax Media, which sold to Gatehouse in early 2015 as part of a $280 million deal.

Bell Tenant's hiring scuttled the renewal, though, sources close to the transaction say.

Greg Cleghorn, a Bell Tenant agent, declined to comment on its work on the Herald-Tribune's behalf.

“I'm not in a position to comment one way or another,” he says.

He referred inquires to Bell Tenant CEO Mark Bethmann, who could not be reached. Herald-Tribune Publisher Pat Dorsey also did not return a telephone call for comment.

If the Herald-Tribune does vacate 1741 Main St., it would result in the largest new office deal in the Sarasota/Manatee office market in the past year.

Renewing its lease at 1741 Main also would rank as one of the largest in Sarasota County in the past year, according to data from research firm CoStar Group Inc.

The Herald-Tribune has occupied the downtown building since it was built as a single-tenant structure more than a decade ago. The building is currently occupied by the media group, television station SNN and Iberia Bank, which occupies a portion of the second floor.

The media company's space requirements have shrunk amid staff reductions.

The Herald-Tribune will have few existing choices in downtown Sarasota if it does decide to leave 1741 Main St., however. Currently, only Main Plaza and the Plaza at Five Points buildings downtown have enough available space to meet its requirement, though the space at the latter is not contiguous.

The Herald-Tribune has also been considering various build-to-suit possibilities with local developers, sources with knowledge of the Herald-Tribune's site selection process say.