PBS Hawaii has purchased the property that KHNL-TV's news operation has called home since 1995, at the corner of Nimitz Highway and Sand Island Access Road.

The $5.2 million purchase of the close to one-acre parcel and building it plans to expand, “;is really for the next generation in Hawaii,”; said Leslie Wilcox, chief executive officer.

Looking ahead a couple decades, “;or even when the market rebounds, who knows if we would ever be able to afford a property suitable for a television station in Honolulu-proper,”; she said.

PBS Hawaii has been unable to obtain a long-term lease with the University of Hawaii, its Dole Street landlord.

The station has leased the site since it became an independent, private nonprofit organization in 2000.

There is no timetable for PBS Hawaii's move into the building as it studies how it may be expanded and outfitted for its needs, Wilcox said.

The nonprofit will have to raise capital for the build-out and the move and is “;asking UH to give us up to 7 years to raise money and also do all the things you need to do to move a television station.”;

PBS Hawaii has long been known as a training ground for college students learning their way to careers in broadcast media, and that was a huge consideration in finding a location on the bus line, Wilcox said.

KHNL will be “;out of that building by the end of the year,”; said John Fink, vice president and general manager of KHNL/KFVE-TV.

The stations' staff has been split between the Nimitz location and Puuhale Road facility for years but will be consolidating under one roof at 420 Waiakamilo Rd., formerly known as the Waiakamilo Business Center.

Renamed the KHNL/KFVE New Media Center, the news operation will complete its move into the building the week of Dec. 15 and will debut Hawaii's first high-definition newscast on Sat. Dec. 20, Fink said.