19 million letters a day! How Chicago’s old main post office used to work

SteveBlog

Chicago Tribune: With Walgreens signing on to rent 200,000 square fee in the old main post office, the massive building that straddles Congress Parkway appears poised to get a new life. The U.S. Postal Service moved across the street in 1996 and the 13-floor limestone art deco behemoth has been empty ever since. In its heyday the old post office … Read More

Chicago awards old Post Office preliminary landmark status, tax incentive

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Curbed Chicago: Currently in the midst of a multi-year renovation into high-tech offices, Chicago’s 1930’s Main Post Office building was awarded a preliminary landmark recommendation at yesterday’s meeting of the City’s Commission on Landmarks. In addition to protecting the 2.8 million-square-foot Art Deco structure from future demolition, the move also enabled the project to receive a special tax assessment to … Read More

Developer is buying Chicago’s Old Main Post Office

SteveBlog

Crain’s Chicago Business: The owner of two high-profile downtown Chicago properties is set to buy a notorious one: the sprawling Old Main Post Office.Developer 601W has a contract on the 2.7 million-square-foot colossus along the Chicago River in the West Loop, according to a broker who is representing Monaco-based owner Bill Davies in the sale.Led by Mark Karasick, 601W is … Read More

USPS sold Chicago’s Old MPO for $24 million, may be worth $150 million

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In 2009, the Postal Service sold the historic Old Main Post Office in Chicago to British real estate developer Bill Davies for $24 million.  A couple of years later, the Postal Service also sold Davies the postal annex to the east of the MPO for $14 million.  After scuttling plans to develop the property with twin towers, Davies put it … Read More