Buyer Of Dallas Morning News Building Granted Interest Rate Reprieve
A year after the Dallas Morning News offloaded its longtime headquarters to an entity run by developer Ray Washburne, the purchaser is asking for a reprieve on its seller-financed loan, a Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows.
The Dallas Morning News, a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corp., sold its 508 Young St. headquarters to Charter DMN Holdings in a seller-financed transaction last year.
Charter DMN Holdings is a business entity created by developer and Highland Park Village owner Ray Washburne.
As part of the deal, Charter DMN Holdings received seller financing from The Dallas Morning News Inc. with the expectation the buyer would pay $5.6M at closing and another $22.4M in debt issued as part of the seller-financed note, according to SEC filings.
Charter agreed to pay the interest quarterly, with payments beginning in the summer of 2019.
Less than a year later, the buyer, Charter DMN Holdings, has asked the seller for permission to skip its April 1, 2020, interest payment, according to securities filings.
In exchange for letting the borrower skip the payment, the DMN plans to tack $194K in interest onto a second promissory note, according to the SEC. The modification has already received board approval.
The building hit the market when the historic newspaper moved its headquarters from Young Street to the Statler on Commerce Street in late 2017, D Magazine reports.
Prior to Charter DMN's purchase of the property, an agreement for the sale of the building to developers KDC and Mike Hoque fell through, the Dallas Morning News reports.
