The United States Postal Service is looking to sell development rights for the Old Chelsea Station branch, allowing a builder to construct up to eight stories of condominiums on top of the existing two-story property.
Gregory Lackey, a U.S. Post Office real estate asset manager, told Community Board 4 this week that the agency will issue a request for proposals later this month. The 41,600-square-foot building at 217 West 18th Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The post office currently has the right to extend the building’s height by 83 feet. Old Chelsea Station would stay open, but as much as 6,000 square feet of the existing space would be allocated for a new condominium-building lobby and possibly a gym, DNAinfo reported.
“They’re the ones that are going to decide, ultimately, what is going to be built there,” Lackey told the website, referring to the developer who will be selected.
Last year, plans to sell the building were scrapped, as previously reported. [DNAinfo] — Mark Maurer