Title: Augsburg Fortress to Sell Minneapolis Property ELCA NEWS SERVICE NEWSBRIEF July 30, 1996 AUGSBURG FORTRESS TO SELL MINNEAPOLIS PROPERTY Augsburg Fortress, Publishing House of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, plans to sell its property in downtown Minneapolis to the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. The parties reached an agreement that may lead to the formal purchase for as much $8,250,000. The agreement includes a number of conditions, such as environmental issues, governmental approval and finding appropriate replacement space for Augsburg Fortress in Minneapolis. The corporate office will relocate within two years. It houses 250 employees. The Augsburg Fortress property had been considered in an earlier search for a jail site, but negotiations were unsuccessful. The county will use the property as a "safety facility." Augsburg Fortress is the third largest church-owned publishing house in the United States. It has 13 retail centers in the United States, three in Canada and one in Puerto Rico, and a centralized distribution center in Ohio. Augsburg Fortress began operating a new bookstore at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, on July 1. It runs bookstores also on the campuses of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, Columbia, S.C., and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir., ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2958; Frank Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956