Photo by Omar Omar via Flickr

Late last month, Tribune Company chairman and CEO Sam Zell said in a memo that he was considering selling the iconic Times Mirror Square (along with the Tribune Tower in Chicago). If it does sell, Zell says moving out won't be immediate (they could sell and lease back some of the space), but come five years down the road, moving day may arrive.

So the question remains, what of the future of the building? "Nobody is going to turn it into housing now," said developer Brad Luster to the Downtown News. "There's no demand, or at least not at the price they need to get based on the cost of land and construction. [But] in the next cycle, it could be its own mixed-use community."

Others say it could be an office building, but it is unlikely. And if someone wants to demolish it and start anew, the building is eligible to be listed on the National Historic Register. Or maybe with its proximity to City Hall and the new LAPD headquarters, it will be taken over by government types.