Search Continues for 'Viable' New Bethesda Post Office Site

This year's search for a new post office site in downtown Bethesda has yielded no results, according to a letter from the U.S. Postal Service.

Richard Hancock, a real estate specialist for the Postal Service, wrote in a letter to Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center Director Kenneth B.J. Hartman that:

"After extensive investigations of the available properties in the Bethesda market, no economically viable and operationally feasible properties have been identified for the proposed new Bethesda retail facility. We continue to pursue new alternative options at this time."
The new post office is to be about 2,000 square feet, will offer retail and customer service, and will have post office boxes, Hancock said to a gathering of Bethesda residents last May.

The new post office won't replace anything, and has nothing to do with last year's closure of two Bethesda post offices (at 7001 Arlington Rd. and 7400 Wisconsin Ave.) to consolidate their operations at one location, 6900 Wisconsin Ave. "I’m not closing anything, I’m opening something," Hancock said last May.

The 6900 Wisconsin Ave. post office location has received negative feedback from the community because of the site's lack of parking, Patch reported.

Once several sites are in the running, they will be presented to the public through local government channels for a 30-day comment period. Once the site has been selected, the build-out could take anywhere from three to six months, depending on construction challenges, Hancock said.

To suggest a site for Bethesda's next post office, email Hancock at richard.a.hancock@usps.gov.

Where would you like a new post office to be located in downtown Bethesda? Tell us in the comments.