Daily American's former office building has new owner
SOMERSET ― The building at 334 W. Main St. that formerly housed the Daily American newspaper has a new owner.
Gatehouse Media Pennsylvania Holdings Inc. sold the property to Karruli LLC for $346,500. The deed was officially recorded in the Somerset County Recorder of Deeds office on Aug. 7.
Leo Karruli of Karruli LLC, Palm Harbor, Fla,. also owns the Johnstown Galleria.
"I'm a building investor. I'm fixing it and making it better," Karruli said. "I live there (Johnstown) now and I see Somerset has a nice building and the inside is very nice."
He said he's waiting to see who leases space in the building to decide if changes need to be made to the inside to accommodate the business. Karruli's thinking of renting space possibly for doctor's offices or dentists.
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"I bought it at auction and want to make it nicer, updated more," he said. "My intention is to rent the space. To know how the people will like it. We'll see what people can fit in the spaces. Some need an open concept as is on the second floor."
In the meantime, Karruli's replacing the lighting with LED lights to be more visible at nighttime and cleaning the building up.
"My intention is not to take anybody away," he said. "I'd like more businesses to come to Somerset. And like the town."
The Somerset Salvation Army Service Center continues to rent space in the building.
"The Salvation Army is very good people," Karruli said.
Gale R. Purbaugh, director of the Somerset Salvation Army Service Center, said she is pleased to be able to stay in the same place.
“The Salvation Army is pleased to remain in the building purchased by Leo Karruli. The importance of staying centrally located to Somerset County residents is imperative to the services we provide to our under-served community," she said. "All of our programs and services will continue, including our heating assistance, emergency food pantry, The Angel Tree, Back To School, Christmas Coats, and rental assistance.“
Karruli said he is ready to show the office space available to anybody interested in possibly leasing space.
"Anybody who's interested, the place is available right now," he said. They may call his office at 814-925-3100 to talk to him. Karruli said he's already showing the office space to some people this week.
"I'm open to talking to anybody interested. I want to make them happy," he said.
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Daily American history
The Somerset Daily Herald made its first appearance on July 1, 1929, under the leadership of Henry Baker Reiley, as the first daily newspaper in Somerset. It was eventually renamed as the Daily American and run as a family business – Somerset Newspapers Inc.
The company was sold by Reiley's grandson David H. Reiley in 1997 to Schurz Communications Inc. of South Bend, Ind.
The 18,000-square-foot multimillion-dollar office and warehouse space was constructed in early 2000. In January 2019, the paper was sold by Schurz Communications to GateHouse Media.
The Daily American continues covering Somerset County with employees working from home. The main number is 814-444-5900 and select the option for the department of choice.
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Daily American's former office building has new owner
