Up for Auction: 1932 Chicago Post Office
By Margaret Foster | Online Only | Aug. 12, 2009
Chicago's Old Main Post Office posed as Gotham National Bank for the filming of "The Dark Knight" in April 2007.
Credit: Matt Stratton
One of Chicago's grandest white elephants—the former Main Post Office, empty for 14 years—will be auctioned off to the highest bidder this month.
The U.S. Postal Service is selling the 1932 building, designed by Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, with a covenant that could protect its exterior, main lobby, and other elements; the rest of the 2.7-million-square-foot art deco building can be altered.
Some preservation groups doubt that a new owner will be able to finance a renovation in this economy.
"We're going from a public owner to a private owner. That could create some additional unknowns and problems," says Lisa DiChiera, advocacy director for Landmarks Illinois, a consulting party, along with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in the Section 106 process (which requires federal agencies to consider the effects of their undertakings on buildings listed or eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places). "We have been pushing [the Postal Service] to have some kind of pre-auction meeting for the public for potential bidders … so people can ask questions about what you can and can't do with the building."
What Does the Covenant Cover?
The U.S. Postal Service agreed to allow the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency to place a protective covenant on the building that requires any future work to adhere to the Secretary of the Interior's standards. Mike Jackson, acting director of preservation services at the state agency, says his group will refer to a historic structures report, commissioned by the Postal Service, that identifies the contributing historic features of the building, including its ornate lobby, executive offices, and exterior.
"There's very little of the interior that would be considered to be historic," Jackson says. "For the most part, the building has not deteriorated beyond repair in any way."
Although no such meetings have taken place, Rick Levin, whose Chicago-based company is overseeing the auction, has offered five walk-through tours. Potential developers have one more opportunity, on Aug. 20, to see the site before the Aug. 27 auction.
"I'm hoping that some entrepreneurial real estate person with strong financing and a vision buys it and does something positive," Levin says. "That building is too big and prominent to just continue to sit there."
The U.S. Postal Service has suggested a minimum bid of $300,000, but, Levin says, "Someone could pay less."
Last week the U.S. Postal Service reported a $2.4 billion loss in the third quarter. According to a February 2006 report by the General Accounting Office, it costs $2 million each year to maintain the old main post office.
The building was foreboding enough to attract Hollywood producers, who used it as a film location for "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight." One developer planned to convert the building to condos but abandoned the idea two years ago.
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