Post offices are downsizing by selling properties

Burlingame is proactive in planning use of that property for the benefit of their city. 

San Mateo Daily Journal/Heather Murtagh, 2/22/12. "Burlingame post office will be sold." "Burlingame’s downtown will soon have a key piece of property on the market, the main post office. Earlier this month, the sale of the Burlingame Main Post Office, 341 Lorton Ave., was approved by postal officials, said U.S. Postal Service spokesman James Wigdel. A timeline for selling the property as well as the relocation process, which requires a public meeting, has yet to be set. But the announcement could be good news for Burlingame officials who have long eyed the central downtown property. The Burlingame Post Office is about 13,400 square feet but only 4,100 square feet is needed, said Wigdel. “The plan is to relocate all retail and P.O. Box operations currently housed in the Burlingame Main Post Office to a yet-to-be-determined new location in the same vicinity as the current post office that is appropriately sized for our current needs,” he said.

Burlingame Post Office,  entrance Lorton Avenue

City officials will be meeting with post office officials to discuss the relocation, said City Manager Jim Nantell. “We are hopeful that we could work with whoever purchases the property to develop the site, possibly in combination with our public parking next door, in a way that will allow for a significant public plaza/space in the middle of our downtown,” he said.Mayor Jerry Deal was happy to hear the news. He agreed with Nantell, a signature outdoor space is missing downtown. Deal was also hopeful a development would include retail, condos and increased parking options.
An idea for such a development is under way. Last year, Burlingame requested ideas for developing the 20 city-owned downtown parking lots. Among the top two ideas, on which the city just started negotiations, one required use of the post office.

Grosvenor, an international property development, investment and fund management group, put forward a mixed-use project using lot E — located between Lorton Avenue, Park Road, Burlingame Avenue and Howard Avenue — and the adjacent post office. The concept encompasses both properties and was created in partnership with San Francisco-based BAR Architects. It includes an “urban village” with 100 residential units, 35,000 square feet of retail and/or restaurant space and 125 residential parking spaces, according to a staff report written by Community Development Director Bill Meeker.

Some guidance for possible uses for the site can be found in the city’s Downtown Specific Plan. A creek runs under a portion of the property, which, under the plan, could one day be uncovered to create a unique town square-like space. If the lot including the building were to be put up for sale, the building could be used for civic purposes. The plan also outlines possible uses for the area including retail, personal services, business, offices and upstairs residential units.

Burlingame’s post office isn’t the only one that could be sold. The U.S. Postal Service faces a $9 billion deficit. As a result, last year the independent government agency announced plans to close up to 3,700 post offices and 250 mail processing centers across the country. The Postal Service had planned to shutter those facilities in December but has since pushed that decision back to May. Post office representative previously said post offices in Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park and Palo Alto were slated to be sold in 2012. Closing the processing center in Burlingame has also previously been discussed."

Current related articles:  "Palo Altointerested in post office site" (in expensive downtown Palo Alto),

Palo Alto Daily News/Jason Green, 2/22/12. "Downtown San Rafael, Sausalito post offices to relocate",  Marin Independent Journal/Jessica Bernstein-Wax, 2/25/12.

Posted by Kathy Meeh