"It is not a sale," Berkman said. "This is not an abandonment of the site at all. The idea is to solicit bids from developers to come up with a plan that somehow preserves the historic nature of the News Building while including other uses, probably residential. It will be a mixed-use project."

The 3.69-acre site includes a parking lot and two buildings totaling 138,000 square feet. The city values the land and buildings for tax purposes at $15.9 million.

Berkman arrived in Honolulu last night, in part to help figure out the actual value of the land and property.

"We're going to let the market help us determine that," he said.

The first major step of the project will be to develop a request for proposal within 45 days, followed by two months of marketing, Berkman said. He hopes to have a partner for Gannett within 90 days.

"Given the prominence and prestige of the site, this will be a national project," Berkman said. "That's why we're running it out of Washington. My job is to find the partner."

Gannett's partner could come from Hawai'i or anywhere else, Berkman said.

"The only preference is that they respect the historic significance of the site and the importance of the site to The Advertiser and that the project is something that enhances the entire environment of it," Berkman said. "... I would be shocked if anything happened within 12 months. It will be more like 18 to 24 months before plans are finalized and something gets started on the site."

Berkman said the revived economy is driving the development effort.

"The market here has really turned around for both office and residential," he said. "I think the timing is right to do it."

The local Grubb & Ellis office began contacting potential partners yesterday, said Mike Fisch, The Advertiser's president and publisher.

Grubb & Ellis has been retained to review several Gannett properties around the country and The Advertiser will be one of the first projects, Fisch said.

Fisch said the development will take into account the historical significance of the News Building as well as requirements of the Kaka'ako Redevelopment District within which the property is located.

"The building is not on the National Register (of Historic Places) but it is a historically significant building," said Fisch, past president of the Historic Hawaii Foundation. "It's important to Gannett and to The Advertiser and to me personally that the historic nature of the building be preserved. ... This is where we want to be. It's our historic location and the ideal location for the news, advertising and business operations of The Advertiser."

The Advertiser was founded in 1856 as the weekly Pacific Commercial Advertiser. It began daily publication in 1882 and in 1929 moved into what was then called Advertiser Square, now known as the News Building.

The idea to redevelop the site began forming in 1998 and 1999 when Advertiser officials worked on a master plan that included the construction of a new printing plant in Kapolei and $82 million, state-of-the-art presses.

Removing The Advertiser's antiquated presses last year gave company officials more space and more options for the property, Fisch said.

His preliminary idea would keep Advertiser operations in the current building while construction goes up around it. Then the news, advertising and business functions would move to the newly constructed building, Fisch said.

"Part of the equation in this process has to happen where the redevelopment occurs while we live in this building and then we relocate so they can finish the work on the main building," he said. "It'll be interesting because we'll be staying in the building while they build around us. We only want to move once."

The Advertiser has 579 full-time employees and 266 part-time employees.