The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C., said it’s delaying the construction of a new downtown headquarters until 2008, according to the newspaper.

The daily has been examining a plan to build a new office and expand current production facilities since early 2004 (see Newspapers & Technology, March 2004).

The proposed project, pegged at more than $55 million, included a building to house more than 700 news, business and administrative staff. The paper then planned to expand its existing building and earmark it solely for production.



According to an e-mail sent to employees by News & Observer Publisher Orage Quarles III, and publicized in a Sept. 13 article in The News & Observer, the plan is being delayed because of an “uncertain advertising revenue climate.”

“This is disappointing news for us all - we had hoped to see advertising rally and grow, and all of us have been excited about a new building for our evolving company,” he said in the e-mail.

The paper said the company wanted to start construction in 2007 of a 130,000-square-foot building. It also reported that the paper intends to keep its printing production downtown until at least 2015, although it recently moved its inserting operations to suburban Garner, N.C.