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Photograph by wallyg on Flickr
Well, it's handy having a brand new trophy building: The NY Times reports, "The New York Times Company plans to borrow up to $225 million against its mid-Manhattan headquarters building, to ease a potential cash flow squeeze as the company grapples with tighter credit and shrinking profits."
The NY Times Co. owns 58% of the 1.5 million square foot tower, which opened last year (and has been a huge hit with thrill seekers this year); developer Forest City Ratner owns the other 42%. The Times adds, "The Times Company’s portion of the building is not currently mortgaged, and some investors have complained that the company has too much of its capital tied up in that real estate." Recently, the NY Times stock has been battered, forcing a 74% cut in the company's dividends.
In other media-related financial news, the Tribune Company, which owns the LA Times, Chicago Tribune and Baltimore Sun (not to mention the Chicago Cubs and Wrigley Field), is considering filing for bankruptcy.
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I blame Bill Kristol.
...a spokesperson from The Times tiredly awaits to roll eyes at Nick Denton as he sits downtown feverishly typing yet another "print is dead, blogs are the future" post to put on one of his blogs that he's still convinced he'll sell for millions.
They should charge people to climb their building.
That place looks like a big ol' jungle gym.
So what's going to happen if the value of their building goes down if the market gets worse - like all the people in the mortgage collapse.
I read this story in the Times business section this morning, just as Bill Keller was telling NPR that the Times was "strong" "profitable" and whatever other lies he could think of. We have become a culture of financial lies: CEOs tell lies and their accountants create lies just to convince investors that their stock has value. How many more companies will sail off into the sunset on a sea of positive financial reports?
^ Pretty soon, terms like 'bankruptcy' will be replaced by "renewal" or "a refresh". But $225 million isn't enough to pay that $400 million note that's due in May. The Times had better start selling everything else off as well. I'm calling dibs on Maureen Dowd's Aeron chair. And I'll only buy it if they don't clean the seat.
Turns out catering to the tastes and politics of the Upper West Side chattering classes doesn't make for a profitable business model on a national scale.