Vikings Will Not Buy Star Tribune Property

Here is a memo from Star Tribune publisher Par Ridder to Jim Romensko of Poynter Online.

By Par Ridder
Publisher and CEO

The Minnesota Vikings have advised us that they do not intend to buy the four blocks of Star Tribune property around the Metrodome. To date there is no change to the legal status of the purchase agreement as previously announced.

While we had reached agreement on a deal in principle, the collapse of the I-35W Bridge and the turbulent credit markets have caused the Vikings to reevaluate their plans.

As you know, in anticipation of this sale, we have started work on the 425 Portland Building that will make it possible for us to move all the Star Tribune employees out of the Freeman Building and into the Portland Building.

We are going to continue with the move since the costs savings of not operating two buildings plus the benefit of everyone under one roof are worth the disruption.

We will be working with Avista and our real estate advisors over the next few weeks to determine our next steps.

The current employee parking program remains the same for now, with the exception of the 2007-2008 Vikings home games. We do have a one-year lease with Impark to manage our parking lots during Vikings home games. (See todays Stribnet story for details.)

Thank you, Par