Baltimore Sun Headquarters Sold To Local Developer

A Baltimore developer has bought the headquarters of The Baltimore Sun.

Atapco Properties did not disclose the price paid for 401, 501 and 601 N. Calvert St. The three-building office and garage complex include 435,000 gross square feet of building area and six stories on approximately 5.5 acres.

“This is a tremendous, iconic Baltimore asset that is attractive to us given the scale afforded by the existing office building and parking garage as well as significant additional development capacity,” Brian Conklin, director of acquisitions for Atapco Properties, said in a statement.

Atapco bought the property from Tribune Media, who retained ownership of all Tribune Publishing newspapers' real estate after the newspapers were spun off into what's now called Tronc. In 2014, Tribune Media sold the Port Covington parcel where the Sun's printing plant still operates. That area is part of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's redevelopment plan. It's unclear what the future holds for that building.

As for the Calvert Street property, the Sun has a lease that runs through June 2018, with an option to renew. The paper has been there since 1950. A portion of the space is vacant, allowing the crew of Netflix's "House of Cards" to film scenes set in the newsroom of the fictional Washington Herald.

Atapco was represented in the sale by CBRE and law firm Ballard Spahr.

In addition to the flagship paper, the building is also home to the staffs of the Sun's community papers and the weekly City Paper.