THE Argus has completed the sale of its Hollingbury home of 23 years.

Hanbury Properties, a property investment and development business based in Chichester, has signed contracts for the 4.5 acre site.

Argus House in Crowhurst Road has been home to Sussex's only daily newspaper since it vacated its North Laine offices in 1993.

The development marks an important step in the newspaper's ambition to return to the city centre.

It is expected Hanbury will demolish the 16,989 sq m building and create a mixed development of retail and commercial space.

Dawn Sweeney, managing director of Newsquest Sussex, said: "This is a pivotal moment in our ambition to move back into the heart of our core patch in the city of Brighton and Hove.

"We are extremely excited about this development and are looking forward to announcing our new location very soon."

Mark Hobden, owner of Hanbury, said: “We are delighted to have acquired this site and to have had the opportunity to work with Newsquest to assist them in disposal of the property and their relocation.

"The site is well suited to redevelopment and we will be working on redevelopment options over the coming months.”

Then called The Evening Argus, the newspaper moved to the old KTM factory in the Hollingbury industrial estate in 1993.

It followed the announcement of a £20 million newspaper printing investment at the Crowhurst Road site with a computerised press able to print in full colour.

By the late 1990s, Newsquest, the new owner of the Evening Argus, was acquired by US company Gannett and, two years later the paper was rebranded as The Argus.

In 2009, with advances in technology, the last edition of The Argus was printed in Hollingbury and production was transferred to a more high-tech press in Southampton.

The disposal of the building has handled by Flude Commercial while Graves Jenkins has led the search for new offices over the last year.