Chapter 4 Our Operations

Facilities

The Postal Service oversees 34,318 properties nationwide, totaling more than 323.8 million square feet. Projects are initiated at the request of the areas and districts. Approval for facility projects over $25 million rests with the Board of Governors. Design and construction of major processing plants are managed at Headquarters. Approval for projects under $25 million is established by the Postal Service’s Capital Investment Committee. Most of the Postal Service Facilities program work — planning, leasing, purchasing, designing, and construction — is performed by its field offices.

Realty Asset Management

Realty Asset Management manages the disposition of real property that has been declared excess to operational requirements. It handles disposals, leases, subleases, development and redevelopment of postal property. Realty Asset managers generate cash by selling surplus property and leasing, or subleasing, excess space. The Postal Service sold the landmark James A. Farley Building in midtown Manhattan to the State of New York for $190 million and additional proceeds of up to $55 million, contingent upon the achievement of certain development and leasing criteria by the developer of the property. This is the single largest property ever sold by the Postal Service. Most current postal operations will be relocated to the Morgan processing facility, with space leased back to continue to provide retail, delivery, and administrative operations at Farley. Real estate initiatives generated more than $263 million through developmental projects, excess property sales and out-leasing.

Facilities Projects

Facilities completed a new standardized space planning and approval process for customer service projects costing less than $5 million. The process is more efficient and, as a result, new facilities are completed more quickly. Revised building standards also are being implemented that reduce the cost of customer service facilities by 10 percent and major facilities (mail processing facilities) by 25 percent. The Oklahoma City processing facility will be the first major plant to incorporate these changes. Its completion date is May 2008.