By John Carr

In the next couple of days passers-by may notice a new sign on the Post building saying “Commercial Building For Sale.”

The only thing new is the sign itself. The Post is not seeking a buyer for the newspaper, website, magazine or digital services we publish and operate. We are not planning on moving.

For more than a year now, the Post’s building has been for sale. The building is over 50,000 square feet, while our offices and the United Way use about 10,000 combined. We have long wanted the unused production area to be developed in a way that is a benefit to Salisbury residents while the Post and the United Way continue to operate on site.

Some may wonder why we have so much unused space. The answer is simple: it is too expensive to have large production facility in a downtown location and a printing press is also too expensive to run for just one newspaper. As a result, we print offsite now. So do most newspapers, even in big cities. Still, remaining expenses, including tens of thousands in property tax paid on unused space, are a real burden.

There have been lots of exciting ideas for all this space, including a brewery, upscale food court, condos, office space, shops, medical and legal offices as well as various combinations of all of these. All are a better use of this space in what may now be Salisbury’s most desirable downtown location in large part because of Bell Tower Green Park.

Redeveloping the Post building could make the Park and the downtown area much more appealing, both to visitors and new businesses.

While it is only the building that is for sale and not the Post, we would not be surprised if some speculate otherwise. They may even post or share these claims on social media as if it is a verified fact. Rest assured it is not.

The sale of the building will not only be good for Salisbury; it will be good for the Post. We plan to be here for a long, long time. We’re dedicated to continuing to provide the most comprehensive news about Salisbury and Rowan County.

Thank you for reading the Post.

John Carr is publisher of the Salisbury Post and Salisbury Newsmedia LLC.