Denver Post editor Gregory L. Moore on Tuesday resigned from the paper he has led through a period of tumult and transformation.

Moore, 61, who led the paper to four Pulitzer Prizes during his 14-year tenure, will depart April 1.

“The Denver Post will continue its outstanding work,” he said. “There is strong and stable leadership in place. But it’s time for a fresh voice to lead from the corner office. After 14 years, I’ve decided it’s time for new challenges, and I will step down as editor of this great newspaper.”

Publisher Mac Tully said a national search for Moore’s replacement will begin soon. In the interim, news director Lee Ann Colacioppo will lead the newsroom. She also is a candidate for the job.

“I’m going to miss Greg very much and look forward to continuing the vision he established here at The Denver Post in terms of excellence on every level,” she said.

Photos: Greg Moore, editor of The Denver Post

Moore was recruited to The Post in 2002 by William Dean Singleton, who had identified The Boston Globe as the best regional paper in the country and was hoping to recruit some of the talent that made it that way.

“And Greg was part of that direction,” said Singleton, who retired from The Post three years ago.

Moore lived up to the description by his former boss Arthur Sulzberger Jr. as someone who “fills up the room,” Singleton said. “He really is one of the brightest stars in journalism of our generation.”

Moore brought with him extraordinary enthusiasm for dogged reporting and excellent writing. His spur led The Post to top prizes for reporting and photojournalism, even as the newsroom shrank and the paper began transforming to meet the expectations of an audience that increasingly demands its news in digital form.

“I was always in awe of the kind of journalism he produced, even as resources continued to decline,” Singleton said. “He always did good, solid journalism.”

And Moore always was in a good mood, Singleton said, even when they were struggling to make the mission meet the budget. “In addition to being the finest editor I have ever worked with, he’s a gentleman, a great father and great community leader, and will continue to be.”

Denver attorney and philanthropic leader Norm Brownstein called Moore’s resignation an “incredible loss, not only for The Denver Post but for Colorado.

“Since the day he arrived in Denver, Greg has been instrumental in numerous projects that make it the city it is today,” Brownstein said. “Through his relentless pursuit to getting the story right, Greg is a guardian of the type of journalism our country needs. His commitment to journalistic excellence is demonstrated by his past role as chair of the Pulitzer Prize committee.”

Moore on Tuesday afternoon told the newsroom that he felt some of the paper’s most creative thinking had been done in the face of shrinking resources.

“Greg’s drive, creativity and instincts inspired us to be better journalists. He loves the story and was driven to figure out the best way to tell the story,” said Kevin Dale, The Post’s former news director and now executive editor of Cronkite News at Arizona PBS. “In a tragically tough time to be an editor, Greg’s compassion for his colleagues and dedication to The Post’s stellar newsroom preserved the most jobs possible under austere mandates.”

In the past few years, The Post launched The Cannabist, an online publication focused on the business and culture emerging from the legalization of recreational marijuana, and DPTV, the breaking news and long-form documentary video production unit.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better run — or a better team,” he told managers before meeting with the newsroom.

“From historic floods, tragic wildfires, the anguish of Aurora, to the joys of Super Bowl 50, our newspaper has been committed to telling the stories, just as they happened,” he said. “That’s the trademark of a great newspaper — getting the facts and reliably relaying that information to the community. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Moore said he expects to remain in Colorado.

“I leave with a grateful heart and no regrets,” he told the newsroom, advising those gathered around him to “keep making a difference with the journalism that you do.”