The Imperial Building, a downtown Richmond landmark on East Franklin Street that opened in 1923, has been put up for sale.

For the last 25 years, the building has served as the headquarters of the Richmond Free Press, an award-winning newspaper that chronicles the city's Black community.

The block in front of the building on 5th Street is named for longtime publisher and civil rights activist Raymond H. Boone, who founded the newspaper in 1992. Since his death in 2014, the paper has been run by his wife, Jean Boone.

Jean Boone made the announcement in Thursday's edition of the Free Press.

"With more people working remotely, the demand for traditional office space has shifted," she said in the article, which added that the newspaper "remains committed to Downtown Richmond despite the sale."

The building was purchased by an LLC affiliated with the Boones in 2000 for $900,000, with an additional $900,000 committed in restorations. It was originally built for the Imperial Tobacco Company by architects Neff and Thompson, who also designed the Cavalier Hotel in Virginia Beach, among other state landmarks.

During the past assessment cycle, the Free Press building was valued at $2.8 million. It is a three-story building that includes underground parking.

The building is being listed by Jennie Dotts of Long & Foster and Ned Rennolds of Virginia Capital Realty.

The longtime rival publication of the Free Press, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, vacated its downtown headquarters earlier this year and moved editorial operations to its printing plant in Hanover.

A phone call to the Free Press office was not immediately returned on Thursday morning.

Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@richmonder.org. The Richmonder has a content-sharing partnership with the Free Press.