Amazon prepares to take down printing plant

Seattle-based online retailer Amazon has reportedly purchased the building that formerly housed the printing press for the Orange County Register newspaper in Santa Ana, California. In a perhaps fitting symbol of print-to-digital transition, the retailer is likely to raze the 112,000-square-foot building in order to build a new distribution center.

Amazon has been among the most active participants in the commercial property market in the past several years, often buying under-utilized shopping malls (in another dose of symbolism) to convert them into “last mile” package sorting and distribution centers.

According to an Oct. 29 online article by the Register, Amazon paid approximately $63 million to buy the 63-year-old former printing plant, which sits on 16.5 acres of land. The newspaper says the plant is “destined to get bulldozed” to make way for a distribution center.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos cannot be said to be hostile to newspapers himself. In 2013, he purchased the Washington Post and several affiliated publications for a reported $250 million.