This month, the billboard structures are being painted “Lamar brown,” said former Prenzler Outdoor owner Erik Prenzler.
Prenzler started the business in Bloomington in 1992, and decided to sell in order to pursue a career in commercial real estate. He also owns Constitution Place, a 45,000-square-foot office, retail and warehouse project at 712 and 716 E. Empire St.
“In my business life, there’s always different opportunities and that’s the case with this. It was the right situation for me at the right time,” he said Wednesday.
Lamar Advertising is one of the largest billboard operators in the country, Prenzler said.
Lamar Advertising will operate the business from its Forsyth office, he said. The company also has billboards in Champaign and Springfield.
Lamar Advertising has more than 140,000 billboards, 34,000 transit displays and 200 offices in the United States.
The exchange included 70 billboards, two of them digital, Prenzler said. The sale was effective Sept. 1, he said.
“My business has done nothing but increase. Outdoor advertising has continued to grow because people are always driving and looking,” Prenzler said.