LDS Church buys KJZZ building

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has purchased the vacant KJZZ studio building west of the Salt Lake City International Airport.

The purchase price was not disclosed.

"The building is being considered for church operations, possibly as an audio/visual studio or warehouse," said LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter.

The 67,000-square-foot building sits on 8.4 acres north of I-80 and just west of the south end of the Salt Lake City International Airport.

Greg Miller, chief executive officer of the Larry H. Miller Group, which also owns KJZZ and the Utah Jazz, described the sale as "a win-win deal."

KJZZ had consolidated its broadcast operations to the EnergySolutions Arena and moved out of its former studios during recent months.

"The building was sitting dark and vacant," Miller said. "As a family, we wanted to do all we can to preserve that facility."

That meant the family wanted the building's studios and broadcast accent to remain intact.

Miller said a possible sale to other suitors was considered prior to the LDS Church's involvement. However, other potential buyers either were not willing to preserve the building's broadcast heritage or not able to come up with the funding.

"So we talked to the church," he said.

Miller said the purchase price is confidential. However, the Commerce Real Estate Solutions Web site advertised the original purchase price of the KJZZ property at $6.6 million.

The KJZZ studio was built about 25 years ago by the Skaggs Family. Miller stressed that despite its age, the building remains a high-quality facility for broadcasting.

The Millers purchased the building in 1992, when it owned KXIV, the forerunner to KJZZ.

"As a family, we're pleased that this facility was able to remain intact," Miller said. "That's the heart of the issue."

Besides the LDS Church keeping the studios intact as part of the sale, Miller said another provision is that KJZZ has an option to come back and use the studios as needed. That isn't expected to happen very often, he said, perhaps only once a year.

Miller said the sale of the studio does not signal a scaling back of KJZZ's broadcast/production.

"We're like a lot of businesses. We're looking for every opportunity to economize," he said.

Miller also said any transitions by KJZZ will be indiscernible to TV viewers.

The currently vacant KJZZ building has quick freeway access but is located about eight miles from downtown Salt Lake City.

e-mail: lynn@desnews.com