Oct 1, 2008

Developer selected, four-year timetable set for NPR relocation

NPR says today Boston Properties won a competitive bidding to develop its new headquarters near Washington's Union Station -- and to buy its present triangular, outgrown building. The company not only has D.C. development expertise but also streamlines the relocation by handling both transactions, says Interim CEO Dennis Haarsager. The network will stay put on Massachusetts Avenue until the new HQ is ready, late in 2012. Earlier this year, NPR bought a bigger, historic-landmarked but plain concrete warehouse on North Capitol Street (slideshow) with plans to replace part with a taller structure and keep enough of the remainder to satisfy the city's historic preservation rulings. Boston Properties has its own media connections: It's chaired by Mortimer Zuckerman, realty and publishing mogul (New York Daily News, U.S. News & World Report).

Update: Boston Properties purchased NPR's present HQ for $119.5 million, Bloomberg.com reported, citing CoStar Group Inc., a real estate data service. For the much larger new site, NPR paid $44 million for land with warehouse and will pay $100 million to $120 million for construction, Bloomberg said, citing NPR.

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