Photo by Dan Macy

So long, 15th and L? Perhaps! The Washington Post Company is considering moving out and selling the building that has housed D.C.’s paper of record for more than six decades, according to a company-wide note from Post publisher Katharine Weymouth.

“This building has given us so much and has watched history unfold,” she writes. “It is hard to imagine moving after so many years.”

The Post itself reports today that the 63-year-old building at 1150 15th Street is assessed at around $80 million, a nice potential payday for a company that grapples to stay profitable. But Posties shouldn’t start packing their things just yet, Weymouth’s memo does not say when—or, more importantly, where—the Post will move if it chooses to ditch its longtime home.

But Weymouth suggests that since the Post dismantled its on-site printing press more than a decade ago (the paper is now printed in Springfield, Va., while a Prince George’s County plant was sold off), “we were no longer tied to this particular location.”

Instead, she continues, the Post is looking for a “more modern, bright, open and efficient building.” To that end, the Post Company is retaining the commercial real estate firms Studley, Inc. and JM Zell as advisers on a possible sale and relocation. Among other functions, employees of those companies may be found hovering around the office, asking Posties for their thoughts on a potential big move.

Weymouth’s full memo:

I wanted to let everyone know that we are actively exploring relocating our headquarters.

This building has given us so much and has watched history unfold. It is hard to imagine moving after so many years. And yet, once we removed the presses from this building over ten years ago, we were no longer tied to this particular location. We understand that this is a big undertaking and a change for all of us. We take all of this seriously.

Our goal is to give us a more modern, bright, open and efficient building that better supports and advances our mission into the future. Our preliminary analysis suggests that a move will make good operational and economic sense, however we have not yet decided on where or when.

We wanted to let you know what we are thinking at this early stage.

We have begun to assemble a small and talented team of real estate and design professionals. We have selected Studley, Inc. and JM Zell Partners, Ltd as our real estate advisors. We are also in the process of interviewing space planners and architects.

Our next step is to work with them to engage the market for our current headquarters, identify sites where we could relocate, design our new space, and develop a realistic timeline for a move.

In the coming months, you may see people poking around the office from time to time and may be asked to participate in a survey or a short interview with one of our space planners.

We will keep you updated as this process moves along.

Katharine