Anniston Star building for sale

Jun. 23—Consolidated Publishing Company, parent company of The Anniston Star and several other publications, announced Friday morning that it will sell its corporate headquarters and relocate its offices elsewhere in Anniston.

The space for sale is at 4305 McClellan Boulevard. Opened as the new home of The Anniston Star during the summer of 2002, the building is adjacent to the northern end of Anniston's eastern bypass and to the Anniston museums complex.

Due to the current logistics of putting out a paper and the ongoing costs of doing business, the newspaper company occupies much less of the building than it did 20 years ago, hence company officials' desire to find smaller quarters downtown.

Anniston City Hall has been leasing a major portion of the building since 2019, but it's expected the governmental operation will have returned to a downtown location of its own by the time a new owner would be able to move into the Anniston Star building.

Subscribers should note that no Consolidated publications will be interrupted during the eventual move to new offices and business operations will continue as usual.

The sale of the property is being handled by Graham & Company, a commercial real estate business based out of Birmingham.

Graham & Company Senior Vice President Jack Brown told an Anniston Star reporter that the sale will be focused regionally but will be advertised and pitched on a national level as well.

One factor Brown emphasized about the building is the flexibility of its use. The spaces the building offers go beyond just office work or manufacturing, Brown said. Because it has large open, high-ceiling spaces that are nonetheless climate controlled (unlike those in a warehouse, for example), the space could be ideal for pharmaceutical or high-tech laboratory work.

John Coleman, another senior vice president of the real estate company, said that he believed the space would be excellent for some type of classroom setting, especially due to its woodland setting.

Brown said his company has been in business since 1978, and in that period he has noticed that one of the factors that helps a building to be marketed effectively is its access to highways. The property being sold is easily accessible to I-20 via the adjacent eastern bypass, while the continuation of the bypass, U.S. 431, takes traffic north to Gadsden.

Coleman said the cost of building anew has risen so much that a relatively modern existing office space could be a good deal for the right buyer.

The entire property is being offered for the price of $4.2 million. For that a buyer gets a 78,060- square-foot complex of office space, manufacturing space, vast storage spaces and a versatile loading dock. Parking accommodates 174 cars. The property encompasses 22 acres.

Of the total square footage approximately 50,000 square feet is given over to private offices, conference rooms, break rooms, and large open work areas. Much of this space has easy access to attractive patios that look out into woods or a grassy lawn.

The space downstairs includes three high dock doors that are canopy covered, and two drive-in bay doors. The downstairs level is easily accessible by either the adjoining parking areas or a hydraulic 5000 pound elevator.

The space offers HVAC in both the office and production areas. Both floors have multi-stall restrooms, with showers and locker space on the lower level.

Please contact realtors Jack Brown or John Coleman for more information at 205-871-7100.

Staff Writer Ashley Morrison: 256-236-1551. On Twitter: @AshMorrison1105.