Station gets a break Judge’s ruling on land lease means $18.9 million WLAJ sale can go through By Scott Davis Staff Writer A judge's rating Monday has paved the way for an $18.9 million deal to sell WLAJ-Chan- nel 53 later this month. Jackson County Judge Charles Nelson or dered Tompkins Inc. of Lansing, which owns the land surrounding the station’s broadcast . tower, to sign off Wednesday on the deal to sell the station. Freedom Broadcasting, an Irvine, Calif., me- • dia company, has offered to pay $18.9 million : to Granite Broadcasting for the Lansing sta tion, which is the area's only ABC affiliate. Station owners had sought the judge's order to prevent Tompkins from interfering with the sale. Tompkins had refused to agree to the sale unless they were paid $284,000 or the rent was tripled from $50,000 to $150,000. WLAJ leases the land from Tompkins Inc. for the tower, which stands more than 1,000 feet high in Tompkins Township. But the sta tion built the tower itself in the early 1990s. Attorneys for the station owners accused Tompkins Inc. of trying to "extort" money. "They could have gotten extra money, but they were greedy,” said Timothy Knowlton. an attorney for Granite Broadcasting Corp. "They pushed the client too far, to where the client thought they would just take their chances in court." Barbara Benko, an attorney representing Tompkins Inc., could not be reached for com ment. Under the terms of the lease. Tompkins Inc. was obligated to agree to the sale of the proper ty as long as the buyer was just as "cre ditworthy" as the seller, or if the seller pledged to remain liable for rent payments on the prop erty. * Station attorneys acknowledge they did not present documents to Tompkins on Freedom's credit history, but said they guaranteed that all rent payments would be made on the property. With that assurance. Nelson ruled that Granite had met the conditions of the lease transfer, and Tompkins was obligated to agree to the sale.