NAB Sells Headquarters

The National Association of Broadcasters has sold its Washington headquarters for $31.6 million, the organization said, confirming a report of the sale.

Under terms of the deal, NAB will be leasing the building back until its new headquarters is completed, which won't be for another year and a half at least--the move-in is targeted for fall 2019.

"There will be no disruption in service from NAB staff to our radio and TV members," said an NAB spokesman. "Selling the building at this time allows NAB to minimize our financial risk as we work towards moving to our new location."

The current headquarters was built in 1969, when it was only a few blocks from the former headquarters of the FCC (1919 M St.). NAB decided to move closer to the Hill and the FCC. It will still be closer to the FCC, but not as close as it would have been given that the FCC has decided to move as well.

NAB broke ground in June 2016 on its new headquarters.

NAB is currently located at 1771 N Street at DuPont Circle. A bonus of the move is that it is also two blocks from the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium, which has spurred a building renaissance in that area of the city.

The new headquarters will be at 1 M Street S.E.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.