U.S. Post Office To Be Redeveloped As Mixed-Use

The downtown post office building finally has a new owner according to the Houston Business Journal. Houston-based developer Lovett Commercial completed the purchase of the 16-acre property at 401 Franklin St. on August 13. Lovett bought the property from the U.S. Postal Service for an undisclosed price. The property, which includes a five-story office building and a two-story industrial building, is the largest single development tract in Houston’s Central Business District, according to Lovett. No design plans have yet been released.

Stephen Fox, a Houston architectural historian and fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas, called the downtown post office a "distinguished work of 1960s modern architecture by an important Houston architecture firm."  Wilson, Morris, Crain & Anderson designed the build, which was built in 1962. In 1984, the Franklin Street facility was renamed the Barbara Jordan Post Office after the first African American congresswoman to come from the Deep South.