The Union-Tribune logo will be 7´2˝ longer

While Bridgepoint Education, Inc., still has its name at the top of the building at 600 B Street, that sign is coming down soon. A Bridgepoint spokesperson did not respond to questions, but a source close to the situation said on July 5 that the company has vacated its offices (two floors) in the building.

The San Diego Union-Tribune will put its signage on the highly visible north and south sides of the building. According to a Union-Tribune article, the paper “signed a $40 million, 15-year lease with Lincoln Property, the company that bought the building in 2012. About 275 employees will occupy the new space.”

The Union-Tribune now occupies four floors in the building: 9 through 12. The paper — bought by Tribune Publishing, since renamed tronc — occupied its Mission Valley location for 43 years, until the property was recently sold by former owner Doug Manchester. Prior to 1973, the Union-Tribune was located downtown at Broadway and Second Avenue.

Robert York, VP of sales strategy & operations at the Union-Tribune, said they are waiting for permitting before sign fabrication begins. The font will be the “nameplate that's seen on the top of our front page each morning,” he said. The newspaper hired Clear Sign & Design, Inc., of San Marcos; the same company designed the Bridgepoint sign.

The Union-Tribune applied to Civic San Diego to amend their previously approved neighborhood-use permit, to increase the sign's length by seven feet, two inches. The agency's decision is expected July 18.

After extremely profitable years, Bridgepoint Education has fallen on hard times. Bridgepoint reported that its “operating loss for the first quarter of 2016 was $16.3 million, compared with operating loss of $1.2 million for the first quarter of 2015."