There's something a bit askew about the "center" of St. John's community life. The Cruz Bay post office, the hub of island activity and the lifeline to the rest of the world, will soon move — but exactly where has not been decided.
One developer, St. Thomas attorney Paul Hoffman, says he will bid on the project. He wants to build a new post office on Centerline Road above town near the Islandia Building and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Another developer, Glen Speer, said that more than a year ago he wanted to include a new post office in the Market Place complex he was building on the South Shore Road across from the Silver Arrow generator. Now the center is about to open and he's pretty much given up on the idea of including the post office, although he was to meet Thursday with his partners to decide for sure.
At a town meeting several weeks ago to discuss where — and whether — to move the post office, Speers said, he "didn't see any other serious competition" besides Hoffman.
V.I. Postmaster Louis Jackson said Wednesday that when the U.S. Postal Service makes such a move, the selection process is a long one, involving not only bids on a request for proposal, but site visits and consultations with local government officials. He doesn't expect a decision for about six months.
The St. John post office has been located in a Port Authority building in the heart of Cruz Bay since 1969. It occupies roughly 2,400 square feet, according to staff estimates.
Specs for the proposed new office call for 6,500 square feet, 25 parking spaces and a loading dock, Jackson said. The structure should be located within one mile of the existing office.
Hoffman said he and his partner, Joel Tranum, have an option on a little more than four acres of land from St. John Homes, and "we've lined up the financing to do the project." They want to build a complex on the site with resident-related businesses including, possibly, a bank, as well as the post office.
The land is zoned R-2 (residential) and would require a zoning change to some sort of business use, probably B-3, he said.
If he doesn't get the post office contract, Hoffman said, he won't proceed with the rest of the building plans.
Speer said, "I couldn't start out with land that isn't zoned properly and have the confidence" that it would be rezoned.
He added, "We got discouraged about moving forward" on the post office project "because it doesn't seem like a level playing field. I start out already paying more for the land" on which to build.
Hoffman said he is more interested in St. John getting a good post office than he is in being the one to provide it. "I have other interests in St. John that I want to see succeed," and that means the island needs to succeed as a whole, he said.
