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The Times buys 3 magazines on real estate

By TIMES WIRES
Published February 14, 2007

The St. Petersburg Times has purchased three real estate magazines to expand its coverage of the Tampa Bay area residential market and to begin in-depth coverage of the commercial real estate market.

Florida's Nature Coast Real Estate/Hernando, Florida's Nature Coast Real Estate/Citrus region and West Coast Commercial Real Estate are distributed at more than 600 outlets locally, with additional copies mailed to investors, brokers and real estate agents.

The magazines were purchased from the family of John Gonzalez, who had operated the publishing business since 1992.

The three magazines are published 13 times a year with a combined print run of 40,000 copies. Offices are in Spring Hill.

When combined with two existing Times real estate magazines - Florida's Fabulous Suncoast in Pasco County and Pinellas Home Search - the group's coverage will include a swath of territory along the west coast of Florida from Citrus County to as far south as Charlotte County, concentrating on the expanding Tampa Bay region.

"We will build on the success of Mr. Gonzalez and his family while also adding Internet visibility for these key advertisers," said Michelle Hatch, the Times classified manager who is overseeing the expansion project.

"This is a natural geographic expansion," said Times advertising director Moya Neville. "We aim to be a full-service advertising and marketing source for those in the vital real estate industry."

Shannon Gonzalez, one of John Gonzalez's children, said, "Since our father passed away last year, we've been striving to carry forward his tradition of quality and caring for each advertiser. We are confident that the Times will maintain these standards. We believe the Times is perfectly positioned to take Florida's Nature Coast Real Estate magazine to the next level."

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. A Times spokesman said the publications are profitable and will immediately add to the company's earnings.

[Last modified February 13, 2007, 20:39:04]