The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Johnson Publishing Co., publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines, has sold its headquarters building at 820 S. Michigan Ave. to Columbia College to turn into a library, and is searching for a new site in Chicago, a company spokesman said today. "We intend to stay in Chicago," said Rodrigo Sierra, Johnson Publishing's chief marketing officer. "The new location will be our fifth headquarters in Chicago since the company’s founding in 1942." The building at 820 S. Michigan Ave., Johnson Publishing headquarters since 1971, is only 40 percent used, and its sale is part of a strategy to cut costs, according to a news release from Johnson Publishing. Columbia College will use the building for classes in the visual, performing, media and communications arts, said Johnson Publishing Co. Chairman Linda Johnson Rice in a press release. The building is only 40 percent used, with a prime South Loop location? No wonder the company is in trouble financially. We hope someone else starts making decisions soon or it may be a wrap for this iconic magazine.
Read more at Chicago Sun-Times.