Masterton property developer and entrepreneur Dave Borman has bought the Wairarapa Times-Age building with plans to restore it to its "former glory" as a great example of art deco architecture.
The newspaper will remain as the anchor tenant in the newly-refurbished building, on a long-term lease, and the remainder of the premises will be developed as up-market offices.
Mr Borman said he had a long association with the building, at the junction of Chapel St with Perry St and Cole St, having worked on it firstly as a carpenter for M.B.Brown Ltd and later as a builder in his own right.
He bought the building for an undisclosed sum and said he looked on its renovation as a "passion project".
"I want to make it one of the nicest examples of art deco to be found anywhere."