Downtown Raleigh Post Office Closing. What Should it Be Next?
The word started spreading in the past few weeks that the Downtown Raleigh Post Office on Fayetteville Street would shut its doors this year. This follows the closings of both the post office located just off of Hillsborough Street across from NC State along with the word that the Cameron Village one may close and the Crabtree Valley one would close in June. The downtown closure was confirmed by the N&O last week and has got us thinking about what should be next for the 130 year old buiding. The post office is scheduled to close on July 15th.
Mayor Meeker has come out in support of not closing the building, Leo over at DTRaleigh thinks it should become a library and John Morris over at Goodnight, Raleigh! thinks the first post-Civil War post office should be saved. We are definitley in the camp of saving the building. It would be great to keep the building as a post office, although I'm not sure of the last time I sent a self addressed stamped envelope. Saving the building is a much more likely scenario than saving the post office in that location.
Therefore, we wonder what would be the best use of this building. My completely unreasonable and far fetched ideas include turning it into one of the Portland based Ace Hotels. The aesthetic of the building meets the Ace aesthetic perfectly (the lobby and check out counter are perfect for an Ace entrance) and this would be a huge catalyst for Raleigh's main street. Queue the anti-hipster comments. This would be for the entire building which isn't very likely. The first floor, which the post office is vacating, has potential.
That said, what are some of your ideas for what this could be? We know most of the scenarios are very unlikely as the upper few floors have federal offices in them and federal budget cuts wouldn't allow much money to be sunk into the building. But as I spoke with John Morris tonight, he mentioned that idea that it is one of the few historic pedestrian access points left in the downtown core. This should be preserved. If not as a post office, then with something that continues its history and aesthetic for the foreseeable future.
The city can definitely come up with a creative use for this space right? Give us your thoughts Raleigh.
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barden
05/20 10:05 AM
Perhaps a university or school would like to make use of the building?
Sorry, Mayor et al., the postal service is dying. How long will we keep it on life support just so someone can recall a fond memory while they lick a .44 cent stamp?
As an entity that is not supported by tax revenue, postage prices will continue to rise to cover shrinking use.
It’s time to let go.
Additionally, I would have mailed this comment, but it was cheaper and faster to do it electronically.
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WILLNCSU
05/20 10:08 AM
Actually, a boutique hotel is exactly what downtown raleigh needs. I recently stayed at a Kimpton in NYC and they are known for renovating old buildings and turning them into boutique hotels. It would be perfect there. My favorite hotel is the Hotel San Jose in Austin Texas. Great place.
Trying to keep it a post office is a stupid idea and a huge waste of tax payers money. While were at it lets save the pay phones.
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Lee
05/20 10:56 AM
The only problem is the Post Office only occupies part of the building. There is a newly renovated bankruptcy court on the top floor and other federal offices I think. So, I’m not sure what could be put in other than more federal office space unless everything is moved out.
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joe
05/20 11:02 AM
Steak House!!!
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arthurb3
05/20 11:22 AM
The Courts have been using most of it for offices so they should continue to use it.
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gspot
05/20 11:51 AM
TAZ
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kg
05/20 12:12 PM
coffee shop or bbq.
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OldeSchool
05/20 01:04 PM
One reason to keep as a post office is the number of downtown businesses that receive a large volume of mail, that can be transported by foot. That said, perhaps make it “Postal Pizza” and they can deliver pizza and mail simultaneously.
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ct
05/20 02:09 PM
Chill. The building isn’t going anywhere, and neither are the federal courts and offices upstairs. GSA holds title to the building and the real estate underneath. More than likely, GSA will find some governmental (i.e. non-commercial) use for the ground floor.
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jay_sikes
05/20 02:41 PM
A huge part of me wants some kind of retail [like a less-expensive version of Barney’s CO-OP]. But the elevated first floor makes retail and restaurants difficult and it would be a shame to hack up that facade to gain access to the interior. A boutique hotel would be a no-brainer if the building were going to be vacant. But until then, the security issues associated with the offices and courts might prevent the first floor from being well-used.
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gspot
05/20 02:56 PM
bail bonds superstore?
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bc
05/20 03:23 PM
^
*like* -
Hipster
05/20 03:30 PM
W Hotel Raleigh!
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Synaesthesiac
05/20 03:42 PM
While it would close it off to the public, a tasteful corporate office for some burgeoning tech/creative corporation would be slick. I’ve seen Google put up space in restored downtown buildings. Restaurants and retail are nice, but we’ve got vacancies in City Market, Wilmington St., etc. for that. Boutique hotels are loads of fun (love those lobby bars at Ace), but if there isn’t a real reason for “creative class” (hipsters with real jobs) people to travel to Raleigh for work, there’s no reason to put up a hipster hotel. Bringing in the types of businesses that will get college-educated people out of retail/service jobs and in to satisfying long-term careers is the one thing that will make this city tip.
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gspot
05/20 04:07 PM
i would love to see this turned into a law office with lots of highly billable attorneys. or perhaps, a loan processing center for a well-established regional financial institution.
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Norma Stits
05/20 05:15 PM
All Black Van Superstore. T Shirts, posters, signed prints, etc.
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ilikethechairs
05/20 08:57 PM
@ct is right. GSA owns the building, floors 2-3 are bankruptcy courts/clerks offices and 4 is SBA and other government offices. No way this becomes anything other than gov space given security concerns. My bet is it stays empty for a very long time.
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Les
05/21 07:32 AM
Empire Eats should turn it into a restaurant/bar called…. The Post
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Ted
05/21 10:12 PM
Foxs Sports Grille
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Bird
05/21 10:13 PM
Every other city has a true downtown library. I think Raleigh should have one and of course be modern in aesthetic, but this would be a good location. Question is, if the building is renovated for a different use, what happens to all of the other tenants in the space? I agree that the Ace Hotel or McMenamins hotel formula would work well here, if there really is the potential clientele.
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bcb
05/21 11:18 PM
This is a fun game to play but you really must undertand that the only thing that would ever go into this building that would in any way be true public space is a post office. If you want to keep it public you should call your member of congress and time is of the essence.
As cool as it would be, it will never be a hotel a restaurant or an urban outfitters. GSA would have to sell the building for that to happen and with the recent renovations to the bankruptcy court space on 2-3 it will NEVER happen. Not trying to dash dreams but efforts are better spent trying to save the post office.
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ct
05/21 11:40 PM
The problem with saving this post office is that USPS is a zero-sum game. Saving this office will just force closure of one somewhere else… that, in all likelihood, is used by more customers. Even the Crabtree Valley Mall office is being closed. So, emotions about downtown aside, the logical thing is to let it go. USPS is in decline and there’s no sense pretending it’s not. Even if this office is not closed this year, it will sure be in another 2-5 years. Game over.
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chippa dee
05/22 09:51 AM
A prison for the sorry hipsters that are wearing last years flannel shirts.
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CX
05/22 11:37 PM
Being that the use will likely have to be government in the short term, I would say move the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitor’s Bureau to the first floor complete with a Raleigh/NC Visitor Center. An accessible location will be more important as downtown grows.
In the long term, I like the boutique hotel idea, complete with a nice restaurant. This idea probably best preserves the character of the building.
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Busybody
05/23 03:46 PM
How about a 24 hour bead store? As long as it remains Gluten Free, I’ll be happy.
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King D-Bag
05/23 06:48 PM
Dolce East!
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chippa dee
05/23 07:12 PM
A 24-hour gluten-free bead store?
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Tony Woodard
05/23 11:51 PM
I so want to go full-tilt into a Stefon impression with this one. I’ll spare you.
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bcb
05/24 07:27 AM
A full scale replica of the empire state building (it is about as likely as all the other suggestions). Save the post office!
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KK
05/24 10:08 AM
It sucks they’re closing this post office. I work down the street from it and have to lug packages over there for work all the time. Doubt my boss is going to be too keen on me having to trek it to the New Bern location after this one closes.
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semiDave
05/24 05:39 PM
Blow it up and build something new, green, and at least 10+ floors. We could use a super market within walking distance.. TAZ is just not my idea of shopping, and driving to Cameron Village is just a pain.
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Kk
05/24 05:47 PM
Yeah downtown needs a real supermarket bad, or at least a Trader Joes for the condo dwellers. They can build one where Charter Square was supposed to go since that’s just a slab at this point.
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L Boyd
05/25 11:09 AM
Somewhat of a tangent: A way to support this (or any) local post office, is by mailing back prepaid business reply mail – junk mail. I can’t stand junk mail for many reasons. Every week I gather all the prepaid envelopes marketing credit cards and insurance, and I stuff them with as much paper and any other heavy, waste material that I can find lying around. Then mail them back. The post office makes money and the businesses pay twice for their wasteful, annoying junk mail. If a lot of people took to this practice, that could mean some real cash for the post office (and expense for the junk mail offenders).
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gspot
05/25 01:24 PM
a harrods would be great
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KevBec27606
05/25 06:01 PM
A lot of the other responders have been correct, most of it is occupied by the Govmnt, and they aren’t going anywhere.
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hbomb
05/26 12:57 AM
a grocery would be awesome
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avgvstvs
05/26 06:14 PM
The Standard Raleigh
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IdeaMan
05/28 08:52 AM
How about a hobo hang out!?! Since everyone is getting all upset that the new Moore square will gentrify that area and push the hobos out, lets give them a prime spot on Fayetteville, so that when you hipsters go get your chai latte in your flannel while walking your new awesome dog you got at the shelter, you can give a high-five to your new found friends!
WIN, WIN, WIN, WINNING! -
tyronedemery
05/29 07:44 PM
peep this
http://raleighoaks.tumblr.com/post/5194946893/fayetteville-st-postal-office
gritty photo I got at the post office a few months ago
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meh
05/31 11:39 AM
It is a big floor space. They should just divide it up and turn it into a place housing multiple small stores/restaurants or something along those lines.
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