SJ stuck with 57,000-pounds of KR signage

Knight Ridder chairman Tony Ridder cleaned out his desk a year ago, but his company's signs -- San Jose's highest and perhaps largest -- will remain a fixture in the South Bay skyline until the landlord at 50 W. San Fernando St. finds a tenant to replace the defunct newspaper company. KR occupied floors 15, 16 and 17 of the building, a total of 19,800 square feet. If those three floors were leased at the market rate of $2.65 per square foot per month, the new tenant would pay $52,000 a month or $630,000 a year. The Mercury News quotes Diana Beechie, a spokeswoman for landlord Forest City Commercial Group as saying, "We would hopefully find someone who would take all three floors and would want their name on the building." The two Knight Ridder signs, weighing a total of 57,000 pounds, can be changed for a new tenant. (Photo by Photo by John Pozniak)