Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993 TAG: 9309300150
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RON BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Edwin C. Hall, leasing agent for Hall Associates, said negotiations are at a critical stage.
"They look favorable," he said.
In order to make the move, First Union bank would have to relinquish its lease and a new lease would have to be negotiated between the post office and the city, which owns the building.
City Manager Bob Herbert said City Council has told him that keeping the post office downtown is a high priority.
"They gave me my marching orders," Herbert said. "They gave me direction to make it happen."
A seven-member site selection committee for the Postal Service designated the former branch bank as its No. 1 choice after looking at six other sites.
The city tentatively will offer to lease the building to the post office for "a figure comparable" to the $30,000 a year that Dominion Bank was paying. Dominion renewed its lease for 10 years in 1988.
Herbert said he expects a new lease would include a provision to allow the city to raise the annual rent to a comparable level with similar properties.
"It's relatively lower than other comparable space," Hall said, adding that the post office may be required to pay its own utilities and do its own renovations.
Herbert said that if negotiations allow, council could act on the proposed lease within 30 days. The General Services Administration told the post office to vacate the Poff Building so it could provide more room for federal courts and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Gary Irish, the post office's manager of customer service, said the former bank building was selected because it would take less money to renovate and was centrally located downtown.
The building still contains teller stations that easily could be converted to stations for postal clerks.
One drawback was the facility's lack of available parking spaces, Irish said. "None of the spaces included adequate parking," he said.
At least in the new location, the Postal Service will not be competing with 13 floors worth of federal agencies for parking spaces. Irish said the post office will attempt to get the city to designate several spaces in front of the building for short-term parking.
Herbert said he expects the building location to ease concerns about parking. He said the building is within easy walking distance of most downtown businesses, unlike the Poff Building, which is several blocks away.
"I think anybody who has had to fight the parking over there will think this is a wonderful spot," Herbert said.
by CNB