The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc. plans to sell the Chappaqua, NY, headquarters facility its founders built 65 years ago. The company plans to lease back a portion of the building to continue operations there.
The firm plans to sign a leaseback agreement of at least 20 years to accommodate its 800 employees working at the facility. Cushman & Wakefield is expected to market the facility.
“This approach is the best for Reader’s Digest, its shareholders and its employees,” CEO Thomas O. Ryder said in a statement. “It will enable us to ‘monetize’ an underutilized asset, in the process strengthening the company’s financial condition and improving shareholder value.”
Reader’s Digest uses less than half the available office space set on 114 acres in a wealthy suburb north of New York City. The company has downsized significantly over the last five years, after being hit hard by state lawsuits and legislation governing sweepstakes, a marketing tactic it relied on to drive business.
The headquarters was built in 1939 by Reader’s Digest founders DeWitt and Lila Wallace.
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