WSVN’s parent company Sunbeam Television is in a fight to keep from being forced to move out of the current studios in North Bay Village!
They ran a 5-minute story twice during the news today regarding the developer who bought the adjacent WIOD property and their plans to erect two 21-story condo buildings eliminating all of WSVN’s parking spaces along with the main driveway, which is on the developer’s side, effectively forcing Channel 7 to move out or close up shop.
In 2005 a circuit court and an appelate court sided with Sunbeam Television enforcing a contract they signed with WIOD in 1962 which forbids either of the two parties from making property modifications without prior approval from the other side.
Despite that court decision however the developer is proceeding with the plans, North Bay Village zoning board has approved those plans and the city is about to vote with Mayor Geller stating on camera they are not going to let the court opinion influence their decision.
This week Sunbeam went back to the courts and asked them to enforce their previous court order and Ed Ansin says they’ll have no choice but to file lawsuit against the city itself if it makes decisionsin before the legal issues have been resolved.
He also said he wants to be reasonable and to work out a compromise with the developers so they could build some condos on some of the property.
Screen capture from the 7News report showing what would happen if the condo project proceeds
See the condo plan here /PDF file/ – scroll to page 14 – ‘Lexi on the Bay’
WSVN.com – video of the story that aired during the newscast
WSVN.com – Developer threatening WSVN’s existence
Art Barron Lands at KSTP
Former WFOR anchor and reporter Art Barron who was one of many to leave CBS4 late last year is now the morning and noon anchor at KSTP, the ABC affiliate in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
His KSTP bio