The building at 4833 Santa Monica Avenue — known as the OB Post Office — is for sale! LoopNet advertises it. For $4,995.000.
It’s been there for decades — back to the 1950s. Yet now it’s on the chopping block. For nearly $5 million. Prime location. The ad above says “Trophy Coastal … Property.”
Many questions abound.
Are there plans to open another post office in Ocean Beach?
Was the community consulted? Does the community even know?
Was the OB Planning Board told? How about the OB Mainstreet Association — did they know? The OB Community Foundation?
Here is more from the ad:
Planning Board member here.
This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Meeting is next Tuesday. Maybe we should be asking some questions.
Who owns it? I assume the PO is just leasing the space and has for many, many years but if the space is privately owned, nobody can prevent the owner from selling it. I think we should find out more before freaking out. I doesn’t sound like the PO will be going away but it does sound like the property owner isn’t interested in keeping the property anymore.
Worse case scenario is that the new owner doesn’t honor whatever arrangement they have with the government and the local PO has to move or worse, go away forever, but maybe we should find out more before jumping to any assumptions.
If interested you can login here https://themansourgroup.com/properties/310627/usps to View Confidential Property Info and/or Request Offering Memorandum
RD when does the lease expire?
It was listed on Loop 1/21/26. So did the OB Main Street know about this?
Let’s not encourage anyone to buy it.
Relax people. The USPS lease was recently renewed, the PO isn’t going anywhere soon. The lease runs with the land so the new owner must honor the lease.
The property for sale is just the PO footprint. The PO parking lot to the west is owned by someone else.
RD, do you know who the current owner is or the new owner?
“+ 60 Year Historical Occupancy” ??? I guess it never got listed. What to do? Can the OB Planning Board add this to the agenda? Is the Library next? The School?
I, too was notified of this web site. I stopped in Thursday afternoon and spoke with the station supervisor Raven, and she confirmed there are no plans to do anything (sale, move, etc) with the OB post office. There are other offices in eastern city/county that are consolidating, but not OB. She also mentioned that these things appear sometimes…said the PB office has been “up for sale” like 5-6 times (all false). Just thought I’d share my conversation with Raven.
I did an inquiry online with the PO and received a call back from the OB Post Office (Allen?). I was told the building IS for sale, the person did not know when the lease expires. He said if the post office closes people with PO Boxes will be directed to the Midway post office and there is no guarantee you can keep your current PO Box address. I asked this person to contact someone with knowledge and who knows about the lease and have them contact me with better information.
Remember, the City was pushing “Redeveloped” and “Walkable Villages” a couple of decades ago? They tried to close O.B. Elementary, the O.B. Library, and then the O.B. Post Office! All of these properties and public services are what make Ocean Beach a “Walkable Village”, along with others, some going back a Century! We are packed with history, and we are already a “Walkable Village.” We are an “Emerging Historic District”! O.B. should have been a dedicated Historic District long ago! It is time for the City and State to approve Ocean Beach as a “Historic District”, WHICH IT IS! The bureaucrats need to STOP this horrific game they continue to play. Visitors and residents are fascinated by O.B. because it is quirky, not generic, not full of high-rises, and chain businesses. It’s a one-of-a-kind rock. We will let La Jolla be the diamond; let us be the beach-polished stone!
The lease is to 2032. However, if a Delivering For America change occurs, and a place like Midway becomes a SD&C delivery unit, and they move the carriers from Ocean Beach and Point Loma and maybe others, they could downsize to a smaller location. They did this three years ago in Imperial Beach, moving the carriers and some clerks to Chula Vista. I worked 44 years for the outfit, and I’ve seen what they can do. Check out the website savethepostoffice.com to see what’s happening nationally.