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MIAMI LAND AND BUILDING
9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2013
MIAMI LAND AND BUILDING  
MIAMI LAND AND BUILDING

3.  MIAMI LAND AND BUILDING

 

On January 31, 2011, our contract to sell certain land in Miami (“Miami Contract”) terminated pursuant to its terms because the buyer (“developer”) did not consummate the transaction by the closing deadline in the contract. Under the terms of the Miami Contract, we were entitled to receive a $7.0 million termination fee and we filed a claim against the developer to obtain the payment. As of September 29, 2013, we have settled the claim for an undisclosed amount.

 

On May 27, 2011, we sold 14.0 acres of land in Miami, including a building, which held the operations of one of our subsidiaries, The Miami Herald Media Company, and adjacent parking lots, for a purchase price of $236.0 million (“Miami property”). Approximately 9.4 acres of this Miami property was previously subject to the terminated Miami Contract discussed above. We received cash proceeds of $230.0 million as a result of the sale. The additional $6.0 million was held in an escrow account for our expenses incurred in connection with the relocation of our Miami operations. In April 2012, we received these funds, which were released for payment of costs associated with the relocation of the Miami operations.

 

In connection with the sale transaction, The Miami Herald Media Company continued to operate from its existing location, at the Miami property, through May 2013 rent-free. As a result of our continuing involvement in the Miami property and because we did not pay rent during this period, the sale was treated as a financing transaction. Accordingly, we continued to depreciate the carrying value of the building until our operations were moved. In addition, we recorded a $236.0 million liability (in financing obligations) equal to the sales proceeds received of $230.0 million plus the $6.0 million received from the escrow account for reimbursement of moving expenses. We were imputing rent based on comparable market rates, which was reflected as interest expense until the operations were moved. As of the end of May 2013, we moved all of our Miami operations to a new site in Doral, Florida and no longer have a continuing involvement with the Miami property. As a result, in the quarter and nine months ended September 29, 2013, we recognized a gain of $2.9 million and $12.9 million, respectively, on the Miami transaction, which is recorded in non-operating (expense) income in our condensed consolidated statement of operations.  We also released our financing obligation and PP&E from our condensed consolidated balance sheet during the quarter ended June 30, 2013, as described in Note 1, “Significant Accounting Policies” Cash Flow Information.

 

In the first quarter of 2012, we purchased approximately 6.1 acres of land located in Doral, Florida, for approximately $3.1 million. We completed construction of a new production facility on this site for our Miami newspaper operations. In January 2012, we also entered into an operating lease for a two-story office building adjacent to the new production facility. The operating lease on the office building has initial annual base lease payments of $1.8 million, which began in May 2013, when the building was occupied.