Plans to develop big new Oak Creek mail processing center might not affect downtown Milwaukee facility

Tom Daykin
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A planned Oak Creek mail processing center may have no affect on the U.S. Postal Service's downtown Milwaukee facility--which is a prime redevelopment site.

While plans to develop a new Oak Creek mail processing facility are proceeding, they might not involve a downtown Milwaukee center that's a prime redevelopment site.

The U.S. Postal Service plans to develop the 425,000-square-foot building on over 60 acres it owns at 2201 E. College Ave., southeast of Mitchell International Airport.

Construction is to begin by the end of this year, according to an agency letter sent to the city.

But those plans could face resistance from Oak Creek officials.

The new facility would replace an outdated Postal Service processing center annex located at 7620 S. 10th St., in Oak Creek, said Sean Hargadon, an agency spokesman.

But Hargadon declined to say whether the new building also would accommodate mail processing conducted at the downtown facility.

The building planned for Oak Creek is large. But it's around half the size of what the agency originally proposed over a decade ago.

That 820,000-square-foot facility, which received Common Council approval in 2008, was designed to replace both the downtown and annex processing centers.

With the revised proposal's reduced size, the Postal Service might be planning to continue to operate the downtown facility even after the new Oak Creek center is completed.

The downtown facility, totaling 1 million square feet at  341 W. St. Paul Ave., is leased to the Postal Service by two Chicago firms: R2 Companies and Polsky Holdings.

In 2016, R2, led by Matt Garrison, released conceptual plans to eventually convert the building into stores, restaurants, offices and a parking structure.

But the Postal Service's lease runs at least through March 2025, and could be extended until 2040.

Meanwhile, Garrison's eviction suit against the agency was dismissed Wednesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph.

The Postal Service, despite obtaining city permission for the larger Oak Creek facility, didn't proceed with the project after the recession hit and agency revenues declined.

But the Postal Service is seeing increased demand for delivering packages — epitomized by Amazon.com Inc.'s new distribution center under construction in Oak Creek.

Meanwhile, concerned Oak Creek officials are drafting a Common Council resolution in response to the agency's revised proposal.

The agency's letter said the Postal Services "wishes to provide the City of Oak Creek the opportunity to review and comment on this project."

But no specific plans have yet been filed with Oak Creek, said Andrew Vickers, city administrator.

The Common Council resolution will urge the Postal Service to undergo "a thorough site plan review and public process like any other developer would," Vickers said.

"To date, we do not know what their intentions are in terms of local review and regulation, and that’s exactly what has us concerned," Vickers said in an email.

"We feel they have postured as though the USPS does not need to go through typical local reviews," he said.

Hargadon didn't immediately respond as to whether Postal Service officials believe the project doesn't require a Plan Commission and Common Council review.

The 2008 approval came despite opposition from nearby homeowners concerned about increased truck traffic and noise.

Federal agencies do have "certain privileges" regarding local regulations, Vickers said.

But, he added, Oak Creek residents, "particularly those directly adjacent to the project, should have a great deal of input."

Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.