CHICAGO – Tribune Co. said Thursday it has sold the original Warner Bros. studio in Los Angeles to Hudson Capital LLC for $125 million.

It was the first major sale of Tribune property since Chicago real estate mogul Sam Zell took over the media conglomerate, whose holdings include the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and 23 television stations.

In a separate transaction, the newspaper and TV company said it will pay $175 million to buy real estate it currently leases from a Tribune-owned partnership for use by the Times, Newsday, Baltimore Sun and Hartford Courant newspapers. Tribune received an option to purchase it in the 2006 restructuring of TMCT LLC, a partnership it inherited when it bought Times Mirror Co. in 2000.

Tribune had owned the 10«-acre Hollywood real estate since 1988. The lot now serves as home for Tribune Entertainment and Tribune Studios, which produces syndicated TV shows for the Chicago-based company. Television shows filmed at Tribune’s production facilities on the lot include “Judge Judy” and “Hannah Montana.”

Also on the lot is Tribune-owned local TV station KTLA, which will continue operating at the location through 2012 under a new five-year lease, Tribune said.

The sale was first reported Wednesday night by the Los Angeles Times, citing Hudson Capital’s managing partner, Victor Coleman. Hudson also bought the nearby Sunset-Gower Studios, once home to Columbia Pictures, in August for $200 million.

Tribune said it plans to use the sale proceeds as part of a like-kind exchange when it closes on its acquisition of the TMCT properties, which is expected in April.

“The sale of the studios and other assets enables us to execute a tax-efficient, like-kind exchange to acquire a very strategic, long-term real estate position in downtown LA at an attractive price,” Zell, Tribune’s chairman and CEO, said in a statement. “Further, the TMCT option will help us eliminate rent payments in several key markets.”