By Pat Sherman
Fourteen months after it announced its intention to sell the Wall Street post office, USPS is finally moving forward with the sale.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a press release today announcing that is has “approved the relocation of the La Jolla post office, located at 1140 Wall Street, to a yet-to-be-determined location as close to the current site as possible.”
The release added that there would be “no change to La Jolla post office box numbers or ZIP codes.”
The decision may be appealed for 15 days from the date of the posting (March 22, 2013). The appeal must be postmarked by April 6, 2013, and mailed to:
Vice President, Facilities
Facilities Implementation – Pacific Area
1300 Evans Ave. Ste. 200
San Francisco CA 94188-0200
USPS regional property manager Diana Alvarado confirmed on Friday that the notice means USPS is now officially placing the Wall Street post office on the market, though she did not know when the post office will be listed for sale on cbre.com and USPSpropertiesforsale.com (which currently lists six other California post offices for sale).
“The notice is saying that we are going to move forward, where we weren’t before,” Alvarado told the La Jolla Light. “We’re putting the building on the market, getting offers … and evaluating everything … (to determine) what’s going to be the best business decision.
“It takes a while to vet through offers,” Alvarado said, noting that it could take two months or longer to locate a suitable buyer.
Alvarado said USPS has not yet located a replacement facility to lease within or near La Jolla Village.
“If we find any, then we will send the sites we are looking at to (city officials).”
Once a desired replacement site is located, she said, USPS will post a 30-day notice for public comment. A 15-day appeal period will follow any decision.
A possible sliver lining?
USPS also announced March 22 that the Wall Street building will be marketed as a potential sale/lease back, a strategy promoted by the Save Our La Jolla Post Office Task Force.
Alvarado said that if USPS can “find the right buyer,” it would consider “right-sizing in place,” or leasing back only the portion of the Wall Street building it needs to maintain its retail operations there (USPS has said the historic 1934 building is too large for its current usage).
“We think that that (option’s) out there,” Alvarado said.
According to USPS’s asset manager, the leaseback option will actually postpone the building being listed for sale, because USPS will first need to produce a drawing showing the portion of the building it would lease for postal services.
“Due to the La Jolla post office being a historical structure, we will need to identify and contract for a certified Section 106 architect (to produce that drawing),” Alvarado said, via e-mail.
Related posts:
- Prosecutor says driver was using marijuana when car hit Bird Rock teens
- Bird Rock woman a magnet for lost dogs
- Debate over Riford Center ADA access continues
- Whitneys challenge planning group’s appeal of their project
- La Jolla Motor Car Classic hits the road first weekend of April
Short URL: http://www.lajollalight.com/?p=103884
on Mar 22, 2013. Filed under Featured Story, La Jolla, News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.