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Post office could be open by Christmas
12/07/2017 8:31 AM by John M
After abruptly closing back in early April, the post office on 25th Street may be reopening soon.
[Josh Bilder] said the United States Postal Service still needs to finish moving back into the building, but he expects it to be open just in time for Christmas.
I don’t know who is charge of sidewalk trash and leaf clean up and parking lot clean up in front of and around the post office, but whether it’s the landlord or the tenant they could get a lot of much-needed goodwill by staying on top of it.
Glad it going to re-open, still hopes it moves to the new development at the 25th and 9 Mile circle.
Put it closer to the people who really need it.
Yay!
I’ll happily supply them
a spanky new U.S. Flag!
(If this is true,) then there really is a Santa Claus!!!
Lol. But nothing has been done
Well see
im sorry this is reopening!! this is the absolute worst post office!! i dont like to say bad things about workers but these people went out of their way it seems to make sure you have a crappy experience.
they once locked me in (!!!) the post office because i was there about 15/20 minutes before they closed and they didnt want anyone else to come in and have to help them. i had to wait till they served everyone in line before they opened the door. i almost lost it!!!!!
THANK YOU!!! And I agree with ray—move it to the development where it is MOST needed!!!In that area the post office will be VERY beneficial.
suggest folks contact Steve Markel with suggestions vis a vis the new development at 25th abd Nine Mile
Thank God
Will believe that when I see it.
Hopefully they started on inside first,and the outside is what’s left.
Bilder doesn’t maintain his residential properties so doubt he’ll keep up this post office. And when he says something will be completed, add at least 4 months before it actually happens…IF it happens at all.
@10 Sharon, I am not sure how stable that plan is yet but is a good idea.
Someone over at the CHPN Facebook site mentioned they see nothing has been done but, they showed on the news that Josh Bilder was to have installed 300 new lights and supposedly, a new roof? The odd thing though is that not long ago when I checked for building permits, there were none filed (showing online). And I have not seen anything streetside active on this either?
I’m confused – I walked by the post office tonight and it looks exactly the same to me. Same crappy floors, windows, the blinds (OMG!!), doors, walls, etc. What exactly is being improved???
Also, shout out to Monument, who’s doing the rehab on the old Blue Wheeler. I didn’t have an appreciation for their cleanliness (they clean up every night b fire they leave), respectful behavior to the neighbors and overall good work ethic. I haven’t appreciated you before but, after hearing what other people go through around a neighborhood rehab, I do now!!
@16 Kathleen… you are not the only person confused. Spoke to someone yesterday with the same concerns. At the same time, I just now looked at the online building permits and see nothing for 414 or even 416 N 25th Street. I find that odd.
Christmas Eve and still nothing… and obviously will not reopen “by” Christmas.
Can someone chime in and tell us why Donald McEachin, who was supposed to be the ‘go to’ person to ask questions about this project, went silent on everyone?
Someone at Nextdoor mentioned that the truck is now gone but apparently, the PO is not open either? My response was:
I know there have been some past issues concerning health and safety with the people manning the truck. With the extreme cold, they have to keep the heat going and know there were exhaust fume problems before. It may be temporary? Or, a sign that they gave up on the opening of the PO since Josh Bilder promised to have it open for the Christmas rush (did not happen – one of several missed openings).
Anyone know what is the latest?
To add… this was a hot button topic for quite some time. People were up in arms about the closing, their PO Boxes, local accessibility, etc… Now, 9-months later, like all issues concerning Church Hill, it appears to have fallen by the wayside and no one cares any longer? I see no responses. No new posts. This was exactly what the owner was hoping for and I mentioned from the beginning. People becoming over time acclimated to doing things differently without the presence of the East End PO. That is not to say it will not open and I may be jumping the gun but…
Apparently, the truck disappeared for a while and was closed at least around 1:30 PM. It is back in place. May had to go get gas? The mystery of when or ‘if’ the Post office will reopen continues.
Another Josh Bilder failure. Wasn’t he supposed to take care of Patrick Henry park and open a community center as part of the agreement when he purchased the adjacent parcel for development? The park is in bad shape and have yet to see the “community center” open.
@22 tc… that “community center” is the old garage building which he totally destroyed with all of the ugly patchworked, multicolor bricks because he has inexperienced bricklayers working for him. I hope the building will be painted to make it uniform color again. But yes, it was part of the agreement since the center is to have doors leading out into the park. And is in writing.
Well, the truck is open now at 1:09pm on Tuesday but is useless. Man in front of me is turned away because he can’t ship packages from there. I’m turned away because they can’t take a credit card for 100 stamps. May as well be closed.
Schrödinger’s Post Office, no?
I can understand being frustrated and even take a little criticism but not the personal attacks on my projects or myself. If you’d like to have a civilized discussion with me and want more of an explanation other than the interview on CBS 6 about the Post Office or any other project I’ve completed in the community I can be reached at josh.bilder@gmail.com or 804-359-5018. Sincerely, Joshua Bilder
All the truck can do is sell a stamp or book, and take in already stamped letters and small packages, usually with a questionable look. It is just a stopgap that has been there for the past 9 months. Humans are conceived and born in that amount of time. You can at least buy stamps and pay with a credit card at the Farm Fresh a couple of blocks away.
Josh, I will send you an email to get the details even though all others I have sent in the past have been ignored.
@26 Mr. Bilder:
I have not attacked you–the postal service’s truck, perhaps, but certainly not you. With that in mind, I am unfamiliar with the interview on CBS 6, but would be glad for any update you would choose to share with us on the post office…or for that matter whatever this community center issue is that the other @22 mentioned (I have no familiarity with it).
@29 BAF, the old garage, and its addition was to become an open hall type conference center for rent (I believe) and have doors leading out into the park. Bilder offered to the city through a contract to maintain the park because of the allowance to have access to it through the conference center. Will need to find the old threads about it when the project was delayed for a year getting started.
Here is the content of a post about the park and conference center from June 2016 when there were proposal signs posted and an outcry about them…
Not sure if the links in it still work?
From the 2014 purchase agreements and ordinances, it looks like part of his purchase agreement was offering to maintain Patrick Henry Park. By City Code, the City Attorney, and Parks and Recreations and Community Facilities, it was approved. Even the plans show possible improvements added to the park by Builder.
The Square he is building will include a Community Center which will face the park and have doors leading out into it so making sure it looks nice is all part of the big plan.
So, I see it that he has a right to post the signs.
Here is the pdf download link to the approved ordinances within it:
https://richmondva.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=3827780&GUID=10A74404-1222-42D5-831E-3267C2027A68
The CAR page with everything including plans is here:
https://richmondva.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=1942122&GUID=0B08354E-C26A-4B5B-8FDB-92ED788C37D9&Options=&Search=
Here is that thread link from 2016:
https://chpn.net/2016/06/08/new-signs-at-patrick-henry-park/
Here’s the link to the CBS6 clip about the post office (POSTED 5:05 PM, DECEMBER 4, 2017, BY MELISSA HIPOLIT, UPDATED AT 06:14PM, DECEMBER 4, 2017) http://wtvr.com/2017/12/04/east-end-post-office-to-reopen-after-repairs/
In it, Bilder promises that it would be open before XMAS 2017. Unless I’m missing something, it’s now pushing mid January 2018 and it’s still NOT open.
How about filling us in about that Josh?
Here’s a link about the agreement between the city and Bilder to maintain PH park. https://chpn.net/2016/06/08/new-signs-at-patrick-henry-park/
Take note of the last sentence.
Another link about the same
https://richmondbizsense.com/2017/03/13/church-hill-project-sees-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel/
@33 tc… your link is the same that I provided above 😉 No problem there. But, Bilder went on camera more than once. He admitted not being more involved and overlooking the issues that accumulated over the years causing structural and health issues with the PO building. A building that was constructed at the last minute (the PO was leasing temporary spaces and seeking property to build) on the cheap 60 years ago and most likely not meant to last this long.
He also said that he did not know if it could be saved while at the same time, promised it would be open by June or July and then, pushed back every month until the latest promise of “by Christmas”.
I don’t know the backstory and hope to find out via email but, when you own a building “and” a development contracting company, you have all of the resources available to you. When you have a representative acting on your behalf (McEachin) as a go-to person to answer community concerns but then, completely vanish while there is no visual movement with the building, that looks suspicious and is frustrating while opening up avenues for speculations. Add to it not finding OSHA reports that were mentioned by employees nor Building Permits for commercial roof or electrical work, let alone any other construction or hazardous waste removal. All we ask for is transparency, honesty, and regular updates.
Personally, I was leaning towards the building closing, torn down, and the space used for some other construction project. The government is leasing not only the building but also a lot of unused acreage next to it – valuable land that could be used for something else other than growing weeds and wasting taxpayers dollars. Especially with several other Postal options are available within 5 miles of this location, and a couple within 2 miles.
Channel 12 has a story about this http://www.nbc12.com/story/37255673/defunct-church-hill-post-office-still-closed-after-9-months
There is no need to moving it to someo ther development or location. There are people in the rest of the 25th Street that still live in areas that need just as much access to it as well such as the elderly. Keep it where it is! I’ve had my PO Box there for years. They just need to get this bulding together. It’s no excuse to have allowed that building to go down like that when realizing there were issues from the start. Now, Has the customer service been the best, I will honestly say it needs much improvement. How about having more clerks available instead of having 1 clerk handling everything. There were issues about trynig to close it down several years ago and the community had to speak up about it then.