Postal Service plans to downsize in Everett

EVERETT — U.S. Postal Service officials on Wednesday announced plans to downsize Everett’s downtown Post Office and combine two facilities near Paine Field.

The Postal Service wants to move its main post office at the corner of Hoyt and Pacific avenues to a yet-to-be-determined building less than a third the size. There are no near-term plans for layoffs or service cuts.

“The main post office here will remain in place,” USPS real estate specialist Angela Kuhl told the City Council during this week’s meeting. “You would actually get an updated, new post office.”

The new downtown building, she said, would be “as close as possible to the current location.”

No timeline was given.

The efforts to liquidate USPS infrastructure are part of a nationwide effort. For now, no other big changes are imminent in Snohomish County, said Ernie Swanson, a Postal Service spokesman. Earlier plans to replace the downtown Edmonds post office have been put on hold.

The changes come as part of the Postal Service’s struggle to adjust to falling First-Class Mail volumes, as more people correspond by email and pay bills online. Troubles also stem from a requirement to pre-fund USPS retiree health benefits.

As a result, the USPS suffered a $5 billion loss in 2013 and nearly $16 billion in 2012.

In another sign of the Postal Service’s financial distress, the price of a First-Class stamp rose by 3 cents this week, to 49 cents.

The main Everett post office on 3102 Hoyt Ave. includes about 45,000 square feet. The building dates from 1964, according to Snohomish County Assessor records.

A new building with about 12,500 square feet could accommodate those operations, Kuhl said. The goal is to continue all current business, including passport services, at the new building.

Separately, USPS would shut down operations at its Paine Field facility and move them to another building it owns about three miles away on Hardeson Road, Kuhl said.

The facility known as Paine Field Station, on 2201 100th St. SW, would close and be put up for sale. That site only opened its public service counter in 2011, after the USPS shut down another local branch. Before that, it served primarily as a base for mail carriers.

Operations at 8120 Hardeson Road were downsized in 2012 when the Postal Service consolidated mail-processing operations in Seattle. Nearly 100 people lost jobs as a result.

Post office boxes at Paine Field Station would move to Hardeson Road under the new plan.

Before Wednesday’s City Council meeting, the main public notice came in the form of letters taped on post office front doors. The one downtown read:

“As part of a national effort, the Postal Service has been engaged in re-evaluating its facilities. As a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars for its operating expenses, the Postal Service must rely on the sale of postage products and services to generate revenue.”

The letter told people they could learn more at a community meeting. In fact, that meeting was the public comment period allotted at the beginning of Wednesday’s City Council meeting. Kuhl spoke for a few minutes, then stayed in the council lobby to answer questions afterward.

“I don’t think that is adequate notice,” City Council President Jeff Moore said.

The USPS closure process does not directly involve city government, Mayor Ray Stephanson said. The city may become involved in the preparation of a new facility, if zoning changes or building permits are necessary.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.

Have your say

To comment on the U.S. Postal Service changes planned in Everett, write (a letter) to:

Angela Kuhl, USPS real estate specialist

7500 E 53rd Place, suite 1108

Denver, CO 80266-9918

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood fully blocks Highway 99

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.