Protesters clear a makeshift encampment at Berkeley’s main post office on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Photo: Lance Knobel Protesters clear a makeshift encampment at Berkeley’s main post office on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Photo: Lance Knobel The proposal by Berkeley developers Hudson MacDonald to buy the downtown Berkeley Post Office has fallen through after they […]
Berkeley Post Office
Posted inHousing & Development
New hotel project is a go again after defeat of Measure R
With the defeat of Measure R, the plan for a downtown Berkeley hotel at Shattuck and Center is back on track. Image: JRDV Urban International Now that Measure R, the initiative that aimed to impose stricter standards on tall buildings, has been defeated, the project to build a hotel downtown is back on track. Developer […]
Posted inBusiness, City, Community, Housing & Development
Berkeley temporarily blocks sale of main Post Office
Downtown Berkeley’s post office is the subject of restraining order. Photo: Darius Wekwerth Downtown Berkeley’s post office is the subject of restraining order. Photo: Darius Wekwerth The city of Berkeley has gotten a temporary restraining order blocking the sale of the city’s main post office on Allston Way. U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup ruled […]
Posted inBusiness, City, Housing & Development
Exclusive: Local developer Hudson McDonald in contract to buy downtown Berkeley Post Office
A Berkeley developer plans to turn the city’s main Post Office into a retail operation while retaining postal services. Photo: Darius Wekwerth A Berkeley developer plans to turn the city’s main Post Office into a retail operation while retaining postal services. Photo: Darius Wekwerth After weeks of silence, Berkeley developer Hudson McDonald has acknowledged that it […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley city attorney: Main post office may have sold
The main Post Office on Allston Way. Photo by Darius Wekwerth The Berkeley city attorney has informed the City Council he believes someone has purchased the downtown U.S. post office at 2000 Allston Way, and that it is time for Berkeley to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Postal Service to stop the sale. A letter to that […]
Posted inCity
With Berkeley set to change civic center zoning, US Postal Service ponders lawsuit
The Berkeley City Council is poised to set up new zoning standards in civic center. Marked above: (1) Old City Hall; (2) Veterans’ Memorial Building; (3) State Farm Insurance Building; (4) Civic Center Park; (5) Civic Center Building; (6) Downtown Berkeley YMCA; (7) Berkeley High School; (8) Berkeley Main Post Office; (9) the Berkeley Community […]
Posted inNature
Have you seen this tiny treehouse post office in Tilden?
Have you seen the tiny tree house hidden in the Berkeley hills? In December, Lea Redmond of Berkeley’s Leafcutter Designs built “The Tiny Tilden Post Office” in a knothole in a tree off the Curran Path in Tilden Park. The tiny treehouse was a thank you to the writer and editor Gareth Branwyn, who wrote Down the Rabbit […]
Posted inCommunity
Ralph Nader speaks at rally to save Berkeley post office
Ralph Nader spoke out against the planned sale of the main Berkeley post office on Allston Way at a rally Tuesday. Photo: Charles Siler Longtime political activist Ralph Nader spoke Tuesday afternoon at a demonstration at the downtown Berkeley post office on Allston Way in support of the on-going fight to stop the U.S. Postal Service from selling the […]
Posted inBusiness
Satellite post office at Berkeley Staples draws protests
Mike Zint protests the mini-post office in the Staples store on Shattuck Ave. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel For the last 19 nights, Mike Zint, 47, has been sleeping sitting up in a chair in front of the Staples store at 2352 Shattuck Ave. He has set up vigil in downtown Berkeley to protest the “privatization” of the […]
Posted inCity, Housing & Development
Downtown initiative on ballot; Berkeley city, schools may lose millions in fees
Downtown Berkeley, May 2014. Photo: Emilie Raguso The majority of the Berkeley City Council exerted its political muscle Tuesday night by voting for a ballot description for the downtown initiative drawn up by Mayor Tom Bates that is less flattering than the ones offered by the city attorney and Councilman Jesse Arreguín, the main proponent […]
Posted inCity
Berkeley mayor to push for civic center overlay, also hopes it will reduce support for downtown ‘green’ initiative
Bates wants the City Council to adopt a zoning overlay to protect historic buildings in the civic center area, like Veterans’ Memorial Hall. He admits he hopes the push will undermine support for a downtown zoning initiative scheduled for November’s ballot. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Bates wants the City Council to adopt a zoning overlay to protect […]
Posted inOpinion
Op-ed: Beware deceptive ‘Save Post Office’ ballot petition
Berkeley’s downtown. Photo: Tracey Taylor Berkeley’s downtown. Photo: Tracey Taylor Don’t be deceived. Backers of a proposed measure for the Berkeley ballot in November are circulating voter-signature petitions under the guise of “saving the Post Office.” But the main thrust of the measure is to impose prohibitively restrictive fees and requirements on new projects in […]
