Post Office Auction
The British investor who let his original deal lapse after submitting the winning bid in the old Main Post Office auction in August has reportedly now completed the purchase for $17 million, less than half of what he originally offered for the landmark property at 433 W. Van Buren St. in Chicago.
Bill Davies, a British developer, originally offered $40 million for the vacant property spanning the Eisenhower Expressway when the U.S. Postal Service entered it in a public auction on Aug. 27. But when he let the Sept. 30 deadline to complete the deal go by, and the extension to Oct. 10 passed as well, USPS officials began soliciting sealed bids from all the auction participants for the 14-story brick building, that has become somewhat of a white elephant. The 2.7 million sq. ft. building built in 1921 was expanded to its current size in 1932. With nine floors devoted to postal work, it was once the biggest postal facility in the world. But it has been vacant since 1996, when the Postal Service moved its headquarters a few blocks away, to Harrison Street. It reportedly costs the federal government $2 million a year to maintain.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2001, the building has become known to movie-goers in recent years from its appearances in two Batman movies filmed in Chicago. Its exterior served as a stand-in for both the National Bank of Gotham and Gotham Police Station.
The bids were reviewed last week and Davies' firm, International Property Developers North America Inc., has been identified as the winning bidder in the Post Office auction, although the sale price was not officially revealed. However, the cost does include a $4 million down payment that he had put on the property after the August auction. If the deal had not been completed, that would have been forfeited. Although the selling price is much less than what Davies originally offered, some observers have said he is still overpaying because of the cost of redevelopment. Chicago officials and developers have floated several ideas over the years regarding how best to redevelop it, including building condos. But the property's sheer size and cost have posed challenges for developers.
Exactly what Davies plans to do with his latest acquisition now that the Post Office auction is over. After winning the August auction, Davies said in a statement that, "The location, visibility and historical significance of the post office and the growth of Chicago as a world-class center of transportation, commerce and tourism all dictate that we re-energize the property as a focal point and destination for the entire city and its visitors for the next century."
Davies has been involved in redeveloping sections of his native city of Liverpool, England, but has been criticized for not following through on some projects.
