Casino License

The local builder applied for a casino license in November and is looking to spend $700 million to convert the property’s tower into a hotel and mixed-use complex, and create a casino that would incorporate the 45,000-square-foot hall that used to house the printing presses. Blatstein expects the license approval process to take as long as a year, and construction to be completed by 2015.

“This is the largest parcel in town,” Blatstein said in an interview last month. “It’s very unique and very rare.”

Genting Malaysia BHD has similar plans for the 14-acre parcel of Miami land, including the Miami Herald building, that it bought from Sacramento, California-based McClatchy Co. in 2011 for $236 million. The company plans to raze the waterfront building and turn it into a hotel-condo, mixed-use development with the possibility of an adjacent casino, said Tadd Schwartz, a spokesman.

The Kuala Lumpur-based developer has encountered resistance by locals who consider the property to be historic. The Greater Miami Urban Environment League, in an October letter posted on the website of the Dade Heritage Trust, a local preservation group, said, “The Herald as a newspaper has played a central role in the history of Miami and the Herald building is the site of too much of that history to be simply torn down.”

Florida History

The Florida Trust for Historic Preservation, in another letter, described the Miami Herald building as “an important part of the architectural, historical and cultural heritage of Florida.” On Dec. 10, Miami’s Historic Preservation Board voted against designating the building for historic preservation, paving the way for the redevelopment.

The Miami Herald in May will move into a 158,000 square- foot office building in Doral, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) west of downtown Miami, according to Tere Blanca, president and chief executive officer at Blanca Commercial Real Estate, which helped the newspaper find its new home.

In a suburban neighborhood like Doral, gross office rents for higher-end buildings range between $18 and $32 a square foot, compared to as high as $45 in downtown Miami, she said.

“It helps the paper to move into a more modern, new space and to cut costs,” Blanca said.