By Tao Woolfe
The United States Postal Service, which hopes to stay in downtown Boynton Beach, will have to wait for a decision until the city re-advertises for new developers and new plans.
The Boynton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency last year solicited bids for proposals for a new post office building at 401-411 E. Boynton Beach Blvd.
The agency received two proposals, but neither one fit the post office’s specifications, CRA Executive Director Thuy Shutt told city commissioners at a June 16 meeting.
The current building — at 217 N. Seacrest Blvd. — is owned by the CRA with plans for future commercial or mixed-use redevelopment, which is why the post office must relocate.
The CRA had hoped that developers would come up with a mixed-use concept for vacant CRA parcels on East Boynton Boulevard that would accommodate the post office’s requirements of 3,474 square feet for a retail post office, a loading dock, and 22 parking spaces.
The post office has said it definitely wants to stay downtown, and if the right concept comes along, it would lease that space on a long-term basis.
The CRA received proposals from BTH Development Partners and SAW Commercial Investment LLC last November, but earlier this year, the post office told the CRA that neither design concept would work.
In May, city commissioners, acting as CRA board members, formally rejected all bids and asked the agency’s staff to bring back all the development proposal options available to the city.
Those options include invitations to bid, requests for proposals, letters of interest, public/private partnerships, and invitations to negotiate.
Shutt said there may be only limited numbers of people willing to build to suit, and to serve as landlord, for a government entity. She suggested that the city re-advertise, and expand its search beyond the local area.
“We would like to advertise in a broader sense to reach entities outside of Florida,” she said. “Previous proposers can sharpen their pencils” and reapply.
The city commissioners said they prefer that the CRA seek requests for proposals rather than opting for other negotiating tools.
Shutt said she would bring the revised RFP wording back to the commissioners at the July CRA meeting for approval.
Meanwhile, the CRA has agreed to extend the post office’s lease at its current location.
The City Commission had suggested last year that developers come up with a mixed-use concept for a freestanding building that would house the post office on the first floor and other businesses, such as medical offices and a tourist center, on upper floors.
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