Iconic - Beautiful Post Offices going on the auction block

[liberal N proud]

Many buildings currently owned by the Postal Service are for sale, or are being considered for sale. Preservation groups say some of the buildings are architecturally significant and that their design elements and historic features should be protected.


BERKELEY, CALIF.


BRONX


PRINCETON, N.J.


WEST CHESTER, PA.

More here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/03/07/arts/design/postal-service-looks-to-sell-historic-buildings.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130308&_r=0

This is what the right wing attempt to privatize our postal system is doing. These are historic structures and have been a significant fixture in these communities.

[lonestarnot]

1. Some richie rich will make mcmansions.

[bluestate10]

2. Probably will become office space.

Most buildings, even when they are beautiful, seldom work out as commercial space unless a concerted effort is made to make the space work. Foot traffic is important for commercial buildings, not so much for medical, dental, or law offices. In fact, the elegance of a building is a selling point when it comes to professional office space.

[talkingmime]

3. Damn that's sad. I've actually been in the last one. They SHOULD be historic buildings.

At least turn them into museums or something. It makes no sense to sell them.

[Brother Buzz]

9. Most are registered historic buildings

and some have museums included in the remodeling/transformation.

Here's an old post office in San Francisco that was converted to retail shops, restaurants, office space, and apartments back in the eighties. The building was a white elephant for mail service.

The lobby with the famous murals was left intact and made into a museum:


This is what is behind the lobby:

[talkingmime]

10. Wow.

[HiPointDem]

17. "Most are registered historic buildings" = no.

[Brother Buzz]

19. I stand corrected, but.....

most are eligible for the National Register. State register, too.

[HiPointDem]

20. so? historic property paid for by the people should be privatized for a pittance so long as the

new owners get a historic designation?

[pipi_k]

4. Here's one that

got turned into something functional and fun and good for the city of Westfield, MA...

Very beautiful inside. Nice atmosphere, great food!


http://www.tavernrestaurantwestfield.com/

[SQUEE]

5. The Frist Center in Nashville shows what can be done in these cases.

The Frist was originally the main post office for Nashville, it was designed in 1933 and is a great example of Art deco architecture, and shining example of New Deal PWA success. It was renovated to become a museum around 2000.

Some cool pics




http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mWIT0enWU3o/Ttsj7IYZysI/AAAAAAAABb8/of42i_lsG7g/s1600/Frist+Center.jpg


http://tuck-hinton.com/wp-content/themes/tuck-hinton/themify/img.php?src=&w=767&h=526

http://www.concierge.com/images/destinations/destinationguide/usa+canada/usa/tennessee/nashville/nashville_009p.jpg

[malaise]

6. They are looting the states and the federal government

Who will stop these thieves?

[Comrade_McKenzie]

7. A rich, libertarian family lives in the old one in our town.

We have a new, bigger modernized facility... but it's still sickening.

[brentspeak]

8. This real estate is being sold at bargain-basement prices

to wealthy developers and investors. It is a looting of public property, engineered by the GOP and now enabled by corporate Democrats like Diane Feinstein, Tom Carper, and Barack Obama.

[Brother Buzz]

11. Feinstein's husband, Richard Blum, is the dude doing the profiting

In the summer of 2012, the U.S. Postal Service awarded Blum's CBRE company the exclusive contract to sell its portfolio of public properties.

Feinstein's office denies any influence in the awarding of the contract, SO STOP SAYING THAT!

[Ikonoklast]

12. Outright fabrication on your part. Those buildings are sometimes sold at a premium to market.

Stop jerking your knee so hard, you'll wear it out.

The government has sold surplus items including real estate since its inception.

Some of those older Post Office buildings needed massive updating to almost every system to be viable.

Many of those facilities were no longer upgradeable, or to do so would be prohibitively expensive.

Some had limited parking and handicapped accessability, outmoded docks for mail trucks, too small a work area to handle an increased mail volume.

It was cheaper to design and build a new facility from scratch that would serve the citizens better.


If you actually think that you will be able to purchase one for a song, go for it.

[brentspeak]

15. Asking price of just $555,000 for a classic 23,163 sq. ft property in downtown Norwich, CT

That is what is known in the trade as "pennies on the dollar". And that is just the asking price; the negotiated price will be much less.

http://www.uspspropertiesforsale.com/default.asp?f=listing_details&listingid=302096&listingtype=22

"Those buildings are sometimes sold at a premium to market".

Those are your words, not mine.

"The government has sold surplus items including real estate since its inception."

The government has never sold so many USPS buildings before, especially not ones which are listed in the National Registry of Historic Places.

Your antagonistic and factually disingenuous post raises the obvious question: just what personal stake do you have in this issue?

For example, members of the public are not usually allowed to know final sale prices of these USPS properties -- how would you know them? And how could you possibly know which USPS buildings are supposedly lacking in parking/handicapped space, have "outmoded docks for mail trucks", and "have too small a work area for increased mail volume" (an obvious falsehood -- most of these buildings are among USPS largest properties)? Those are talking points parroted about by lobbyists who work on behalf of hedge funds and real estate developers looking to get a piece of the action.

[liberal N proud]

13. Wealthy developers at bargain basement prices

The rich getting richer off the tax payer.

[Initech]

14. It's the end of an empire and everything must go!!!

[HiPointDem]

16. +100. a crime and a theft from the people who paid for the buildings.

[Starry Messenger]

18. Those beautiful buildings and the New Deal murals should be National Treasures

More background at this Kos link about the fire sales going on with Post Offices: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/01/1165912/-Selling-off-the-Post-Office-Berkeley-calls-out-Richard-Blum

[kwassa]

21. Donald Trump is turning the Old Post Office Pavilion in DC into a luxury hotel.

Like it or not.

[Liberal_in_LA]

22. that show "extreme homes" features folks living in purchased schools, post offices, churches, etc.