PRINCETON: Sale of downtown Post Office still on hold

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   The sale of the Post Office in Palmer Square is on hold until postal officials complete a mandatory consultation with the state Historic Preservation Office, although there has been no action in nearly a year.
   The preservation office, a branch of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, wrote to the Postal Service in February 2012 that a historic preservation easement should be put on the building.
   DEP Spokesman Bob Considine said the state has not received a response to its letter.
   The Post Service is required by federal law to consult with the preservation office “on the affect of the project,” Mr. Considine said in an email. The building is listed on the state and national registers of historic places “as a contributing building to the Princeton historic district.”
   The state said an easement is strong protection for the 1934 building, more so than a covenant that the Postal Service has proposed “that would direct any future owner to preserve the building,” Mr. Considine said in an email. An easement would require future owners “to maintain and preserve the building” in line with federal government standards for historic properties, he added.
   More than a year has gone by since postal officials announced plans in the fall of 2011 to sell the roughly 11,000-square-foot building. Since that time, the property has not gone on the market, until the “issues” with the Historic Preservation Office are resolved, said Postal Service spokesman Raymond V. Daiutolo Sr.
   When that happens, he said, the building would be put up for sale. He said the Postal Service has received offers from interested buyers, although he declined to elaborate. He said there is no sales price yet, although municipal tax records have the property assessed at roughly $1.9 million, although at half the total square footage.
   In the meantime, the Post Office has retail only operations in the underutilized facility, as local mail carriers work out of the Post Office’s main location in Carnegie Center, Mr. Daiutolo said.
   As part of its letter in February, the state asked for exterior and interior photos of the building, also to include the mural inside called, “Columbia Under the Palm,” that has been criticized because of what some say is an unflattering depiction of American Indians.
   Mr. Considine wrote that the Works Projects Administration mural, is a “character-defining feature” of the building, and common in courthouses and post offices of that time.
   Looking ahead to when the property is sold, Palmer Square Management vice president David Newton said he has no preference for what goes there, only “anything that enhances and drives traffic to the square.” He added that his company is interested in acquiring the property.