Knight Ridder Signs to Be Auctioned Off
It almost seems like a vestige of a vestige now, but there is news of the Knight Ridder signs.
Somehow the two 57,000-pound signs are for sale — YOUR NAME HERE.
As KCBS reports:
"As far as building signs go, they don’t get
much bigger. The largest sign in Silicon Valley, atop 50 West San
Fernando Street, is going for $2 million, with an additional monthly
rent.
”These are huge signs, the city council had to relax the sign
ordinances for these to be put up many years ago, and they will never
be duplicated,” said Chris Hygelund, senior vice president at Richie
Commercial Real Estate. “They also sit right in the flight path of San
Jose International Airport, and they’re surrounded by Highways 101, 280
and 87, so there’s tremendous exposure.”
The signs violate many parts of the city’s sign ordinance, but
Hygelund says the city was coerced into allowing the signs when Knight
Ridder came to town years ago.
Ouch. Coercion? Knight Ridder? I recall it as friendly persuasion. Ah, the erstwhile power of the press (and the corporate office).
I'd covered the early days of the signage question, but now turn it over to KCBS. If you want more, here's a video report, in which several San Joseans, including me, were interviewed.