Hasta La Ideas

When Time Inc. sold a 28-acre Birmingham, Al. campus to Samford University last year, the deal included a clause allowing the company to lease back one of three buildings and maintain its Southern Progress Corporation division. However, per New York Times food correspondent Kim Severson, there’s now an additional layer.

Time Inc. is building 28 test kitchens, a dozen photography studios and a dining room, with plans to open that end up at the beginning of 2016. The kitchens will be used for all Time Inc. publications, not just those that fall under the Southern Progress umbrella (Cooking Light, Southern Living, Coastal Living, Health, Sunset). From Severson’s piece:

In addition to editorial content, the studio will hold chef demonstrations, private dinners and events for loyal readers. The company will also use it to produce native advertising, which are ads that resemble news articles, and live events with advertisers.

For the report, Severson got some perspective from former NYT food colleague Amanda Hesser, who now runs website Food52. She writes that Time Inc. will still maintain several test kitchens in New York.

Previously on FishbowlNY:
Time Inc. Sells Sunset’s Test Kitchen and Gardens