Photo by Chris Rief

Photo by Chris Rief

News that The Washington Post could move out of its longtime digs at 1150 15th Street NW has prompted a lot of speculation about where the newspaper and its parent company end up. And not long after Post publisher Katharine Weymouth announced that The Washington Post Company has retained a pair of commercial real estate firms to advise it on a possible sale and relocation of the 63-year-old building, the inter-jurisdictional jockeying started to unfold.

In a tweet, Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) invited D.C.’s paper of record to—gasp!—quit the District altogether and settle down across the Potomac River:


Of course, speculating on where the Post’s new headquarters might land is incredibly premature. Rima Calderon, the Post Company’s vice president for communications, said earlier today that it is not elaborating for now beyond Weymouth’s memorandum to employees.

But Connolly’s wish to see The Washington Post become The Northern Virginia Post is sincere, his office says. “Gerry sent that out,” says press secretary George Burke. “He writes them.”

Burke adds that Connolly, who before entering Congress served as chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, “has worked to bring business into Northern Virginia.” Connolly is also said to be a little wistful that the Post’s footprint in his area is less than what it used to be. In 2011, the paper announced that it would scale down some of its regional bureaus save those in Annapolis and Richmond, though it still keeps a full-time blog—Tom Jackman’s State of NoVa—on the beat.

Of course, the Post used to have a bigger presence in Northern Virginia, with its digital newsroom operating out of Arlington until the operations of washingtonpost.com were merged into 15th and L in 2010.

Connolly might not want to get too excited, because the District government does plan to help keep the Post based in D.C. Pedro Ribeiro, a spokesman for Mayor Vince Gray, says the Post alerted city officials before announcing a possible move. “The Post did reach out to the Mayor’s office, and we look forward to working with them to find a new home in the District,” he writes in an email.

But Burke says his boss’ statement might have been more aspirational than anything. “I would suggest that he did it to make a point and with a little gleam in his eye,” he says. That’s a relief. Because otherwise the Post would become The Dunwoody Journal-Constitution of Washington.

Filed Under: gerry connolly, katharine weymouth, the washington post, the washington post company,