Magic Castle For Sale... Make That SOLD!

According to a thread that appeared on the Genii Magazine Forums today, the land on which the Magic Castle resides has been sold. As discussed on previous podcasts and here in the Magic Newswire blog, the property has been on the market since 2007 with an estimated asking price of $70 Million. All indications have been that the contract for purphase would have terms to insure the long term survival of the Magic Castle as a home to the Academy of Magical arts and the Castle as a private club and hotel will survive the sale. While in LA for the Magic Castle Awards banquet, Richard Kaufman, the publisher of Genii, responded to inquiries in the forum with confirmation of the sale saying, "the word is, indeed, that the land and Magic Castle have been sold for $70 million dollars. I have also heard that the Castle will and the AMA will stay."As previously posted here, the Magic Castle itself was protected as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument since 1989. Efforts are underway to see that Yamashiro's Restaurant received similar protection.