Despite pleas from the Venice community that the Venice post office carrier annex at 313 Grand Blvd., be used for community services, the government postal service (USPS) is moving ahead with plans to sell it to a private developer. The USPS has retained giant real estate firm, Grubb & Ellis to pedal the property.

If the 1.78 acre site goes private, it may end up as a hotel, luxury condominiums, or an upscale shopping mall

Before the post office bought the triangular-shaped lot, it was a Safeway grocery store. In the early days of Venice, the west end of the lot was the site of Abbot Kinney’s home.

Today it serves as the arrival point for Venice mail and packages where it is sorted by carriers. If the facility is closed, the carriers would be relocated to other cities and would drive to Venice each day with the mail.

A small sign on the door of the post office, last Dec. 15, alerted Venetians of the impending sale. A number of people called Councilperson Bill Rosendahl’s office asking that the lot not be sold to a private developer. He wrote a letter to U.S. Representative Jane Harman asking for her help. That was the last that was heard from either of them  about the sale. Rosendahl may be contacted at 213-473-7011. If you call, don’t accept a runaround from a staff member.