Newspaper Firms’ Most Valuable Asset: Land

Value of newspapers plummets to point that real estate is most valuable asset.

An article in the Boston Business Journal suggests that the most valuable asset of The Boston Globe is the land it owns. The Boston Globe is anticipated to lose $80M in 2009, but its real estate holdings may be worth $65M.

This is a common story. Since they need to be close to the action, many newspapers set up their headquarters near downtown. As city populations swelled and urban revitalization occurred, the land these headquarters sat on became the most valuable part of the firm. When the Austin American-Statesman was posted for sale recently, many opined that its real estate would be a key asset.

The Boston Business Journal article quotes analysts who think The Boston Globe could sell off its Boston.com assets for $20M. Boston.com is one of the most successful city sites on the web and is ranked #254 by Compete.com.

I found this story particularly interesting following attending GeoDomain Expo the prior week. More and more geo domain owners are getting into the news business. But print newspapers drive a lot of the traffic to the corresponding web site. They complement each other. City.com owners will need to do more than just count on their brand if they wish to become news organizations.

[Hat tip to Rob Sequin for the article.]