Bradenton Herald parent sells building to pension fund

BUYER: 102 Bradenton MRP LLC (WhiteStar Holdings LLC and Lundsten-O'Donnell Advisory Group LLC), Boca Raton

SELLER: The Bradenton Herald Inc.

PROPERTY: 102 W. Manatee Ave., Bradenton

PRICE: $4.77 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $840,000, October 1979

TITLE FIRM ON DEED: Old Republic National Title Insurance Co., Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: The McClatchy Co., a Sacramento, Calif.-based newspaper company, transferred the 88,398-square-foot Bradenton Herald building to the company's pension plan for $4.77 million.

The price equated to $54 per square foot.

The newspaper had listed the two-story building and 9.1 acres for sale since early 2009.

The transfer is part of a larger real estate sale to the pension fund that included McClatchy properties in Charlotte, N.C.; Lexington, Ky.; Macon, Ga.; Myrtle Beach and Rock Hill, S.C.; and Olympia, Wash. The transfer is expected to cover all of McClatchy's required contributions to the pension plan for 2011. The properties were appraised at $49.6 million.

The company will lease back all the properties from the pension plan for 10 years for an aggregate annual rent of $4 million. WhiteStar Advisors LLC, a real-estate advisory firm, will manage the properties for the fund.

“Our pension plan will benefit from rental income from the company and from price appreciation as these properties hopefully gain in value over time,” Pat Talamantes, McClatchy's chief financial officer, says in a press release. “The company will, in turn, preserve its cash to repay debt.”

McClatchy is the third largest newspaper company in the United States. It publishes 30 daily newspapers, 43 non-daily newspapers and co-owns a portfolio of digital entities.