— The News & Observer has reached a deal to sell its downtown Raleigh headquarters for $20.2 million to a local group of developers.

The newspaper has been in the McDowell Street property for more than a century, but demand for downtown properties has dramatically increased purchase prices in recent years.

"Our commitment is to create something that truly belongs here, something that attracts people to this site to shop, to stay, to work and to live," Russ Jones, a partner in the development group that dubbed itself Above the Fold LLC, said in a statement. "The site will feature a diversity of uses, public art and public spaces to connect our heritage and our future."

The N&O plans to move its printing operation to a Garner building and will lease a section of its current printing building at the corner of Martin and Salisbury streets after Above the Fold redevelops it. That project is expected to start next year.

Above the Fold also includes Henry Ward, Mark Andrews, Michael Sandman and Joe Whitehouse. Among them, they have developed projects such as the Aloft Hotel across Hillsborough Street from the North Carolina State University Bell Tower, The Paramount condominium project in the Glenwood South neighborhood and The Cypress of Raleigh retirement community in north Raleigh.

Clearscapes, an award-­winning architectural firm, will lead design efforts for the project.

"This is the project of a lifetime for those of us who call Raleigh home and are personally invested in the future of our city," Jones said. "We view this property as the single most important site in downtown Raleigh today and are committed to developing a project that will serve the people of Raleigh for generations to come."