Anthony Freeman, the acting president and chief executive of NCRC, said his group is interested. "The potential to bring Radio One back into the city and to create a destination in the Shaw corridor is something we want to explore," he said. "This deal basically is relocating Radio One back to the city. It's an African American business and it's one of the most significant media corporations in the world."
Freeman said he expects to meet with Radio One representatives in January. He declined to disclose the price of the land. Freeman said NCRC would "retain an interest in the land."
Chief executive Alfred C. Liggins III wants to move Radio One to the Shaw neighborhood.
(Melina Mara -- The Washington Post)
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Freeman said NCRC has also received a competing offer for the land from a developer, but he declined to disclose who.
Liggins said Radio One is willing to take on the task of raising money for the Howard Theater's redevelopment, a key priority for NCRC and city officials.
Liggins said he has also talked to H. Patrick Swygert, president of Howard University, about forging ties between the historically black college and the radio company. Liggins's mother and Radio One founder Catherine L. Hughes started her radio career at Howard's WHUR-96.3 FM radio station and created the popular "Quiet Storm" format.
Liggins said it would likely take two or three years to build the Radio One headquarters site and that he is willing to break the nine-year lease that remains on the Lanham office building his company now fills.
"That's one of the reasons it's a bit challenging," Liggins said of his existing lease. "We're willing to make the adjustments in order to get that done."
Radio One moved to Lanham from the District in 1997. Its return to the District would leave Prince George's County with few publicly traded companies. Earlier this year, Prince George's lost a bid to neighboring Montgomery County to house TV One LLC, an upstart cable network owned by Radio One and Comcast Corp., targeted at black viewers.
Staff writer Debbi Wilgoren contributed to this report.
