by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
Downtown has been without a post office for nearly 10 months and Atlanta-based real estate consultant James Brewer wants to change that.
Once occupying space in the old federal courthouse, the post office briefly operated out of Ziba’s Hair Salon on Hogan Street before closing in September.
Brewer recently contacted Mayor John Peyton and the City Council, pitching a Springfield location that he said would be perfect fit.
“I am soliciting your support in my efforts to relocate the downtown post office to the northeast corner of 1st and Main Streets,” Brewer, a broker with Keller Williams First Coast Realty, wrote. “You may not be aware the downtown post office and the Springfield post office are combined under one postmaster and the current Springfield location has a lease expiring in November.”
Brewer, who owns the building with another investor, said a combination of the two facilities would result in an, “. . . economy of scale and that the location is the approximate geographic center of downtown [12 blocks north to the termination of Historic Springfield and 12 blocks south of Bay Street.]
Brewer added a Springfield postal unit could potentially trigger more retail development on Main Street.
“We have yet to see the commercial development on Main Street,” he said, “but when it begins, I estimate the development will exceed all expectations, with a minimum of $1,500,000 in new property values created along every 100 feet of Main Street frontage.”
Peyton has been in talks with the Postal Service about opening a location in the new Main Library parking garage on Duval Street.
“As I understand it, those negotiations are still on the table,” said Joseph Breckenridge, a Postal Service spokesperson. “However, we’re still awaiting a price proposal from the developers.”
Breckenridge said he has not heard about Brewer’s proposal.
“We have not heard from him, but we would be interested to see what he knows and what he is proposing,” he said. “We welcome the opportunity to at least talk.”