Reader's Digest closes book on headquarter ownership.

Reader's Digest has announced that it will try to sell its 690,000 s/f headquarter facility in Chappaqua, N.Y. The Reader's Digest Association hopes to find a sale-leaseback arrangement, where it will keep about 800 employees at the facility for another 20 years. The property, which was designed as the first Reader's Digest headquarters in 1939, is situated on 114 acres of land in the heart of Westchester County. In includes several parking lots and an automotive garage.

According to the magazine's board of directors, the decision to sell part of the facility was reached after the company realized it had a lot of underutilizedutilized space. "This approach is the best for Reader's Digest, its shareholders and its employees," said Thomas O. Ryder, chairman and CEO of Reader's Digest, in an official statement. "It will enable us to 'monetize' an under-utilized asset, in the process strengthening the company's financial condition and improving shareholder value."

Reader's Digest has retained Cushman & Wakefield's Mike Rotchford, Matt Seltzer and Mitch Konsker to market the property. "It's a very exciting assignment. We received over 30 inquiries in two days because of this property's location and Reader's Digest's credit," said Konsker. He added that the facility lends itself to a variety of uses, including office, research and a possible residential conversion. He and his colleagues expect to sell the Reader's Digest headquarters in about six months. As for the price, no definite number has been decided upon.

"The market will decide what the price of the property is," Konsker said. "But there is a value on the Reader's Digest lease."