Everytime I head over to the Nat King Cole Post Office on Western and Third, I wonder if it’s going to be closing. The US Postal Service has been discussing that option since 2012, and the 1.49 acre lot and its buildings are still on the the market for $8.3 million, offered by CBRE. As reported earlier on the Larchmont Buzz, the United States Postal Service is unloading many of their pricey real estate holdings in an effort to make the postal system more profitable, and the Hancock Park / Koreatown facility was on the chopping block.
We learned from CBRE realtor Brandon Burns this week that a bid date occurred three weeks ago, a buyer was selected and they are now working through a purchase agreement. No details yet on who it is, but no backup offers are being solicited.
Meanwhile, the Nat King Cole station has one pleasant change recently instituted by the new Supervisor, Sigmond Smith. He hooked up an iPod and a Bose speaker in the lobby and is streaming some smooth jazz that takes the bite off the wait in line (it did move faster!) and the bland institutional feel of the place. Smith. a veteran seven year Supervisor and Financing Supervisor for the USPS, Â has been at the facility for just two weeks but has already brought smiles to the faces of both the postal workers and patrons. Too bad the drop off mail boxes, both at street and in front of the facility, are no longer in place.
Stay tuned for where the new facility will land. The trucking and mail carrier services are moving off the Third/Western lot in January 2015 and we believe the USPS will soon be firming up a smaller ‘store front’ facility in close vicinity, to service customers at the counter and provide post office boxes.
Larchmont Buzz: Nat King Cole Post Office Relocation Explored
They should be playing Nat King Cole songs!