By Eric Curl
July 16, 2023 – Colonial Group, Inc. the parent company of Colonial Oil and the Enmarket convenience store chain, purchased the former Savannah Morning News building for $30 million on July 12, according to sales records.
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The company announced in a press release Thursday that it plans to relocate its corporate headquarters to the 3-story office building, at 1375 Chatham Parkway, which includes 145,000 square feet of warehouse space previously used as a newspaper press and distribution facility.
Colonial’s Savannah area employees currently work in eight different offices that have reached or are nearing capacity, according to a statement issued by President and CEO Christian Demere.
“This location will create a more collaborative atmosphere for our employees which will allow us to better support our operations and accommodate our needs as we continue to grow,” Demere said.
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Building renovations are expected to begin in the near term, and Colonial Group intends to relocate the majority of their local corporate personnel to the new headquarters over time.
Employees of the Savannah Morning News vacated the building earlier this year as the publication’s former owner, Augusta-based Morris Communications, made preparations, including the dismantling of the newspaper press, to sell the property it had built in 2003, as previously reported.
Morris sold the publication in 2017. Gannett Co., publisher of USA Today, acquired SMN about two years later through a merger. While built for the Savannah Morning News in 2003, Morris has leased the building to a number of additional tenants, including Savannah Magazine, WJCL, Fox28 Savannah, and the city of Savannah. Savannah Magazine moved to 6602 Abercorn St. in February, while the city departed in December 2021 after leasing space there since January 2018. As of Sunday, WJCL continued to list the site as the location of its headquarters. Savannah Morning News staff now work remotely.
Chatham County assessors valued the property, plus a parking lot across the street, at about $16 million in 2023.
After the newspaper moved to Chatham Parkway in late 2004, the “state-of-the-art” building was celebrated with a dedication event attended by more than 300 guests invited to get a sneak peak, according to the paper’s news coverage at the time. The $37 million investment was touted for its modern printing capabilities, extra storage capacity and newsroom’s technological advances, all designed to perform the “daily miracle” that the almost 400 employees achieved every day by getting the newspaper into the hands of the publication’s readers.
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