Old Downtown Miami Post Office To Be Space For Eating, Drinking And Being Merry

An entity called Post Office Development LLC has submitted plans to Miami’s Historic and Environmental Preservation Board to further redevelop the Old U.S. Post Office and Courthouse in Downtown Miami.

If the board approves the plan, the 43K SF, four-story building will be rebuilt as a project called the Republic Entertainment Bureau that will include bars and restaurant space, NAI Miami reports.

According to the plans, the ground level will be partly occupied by a bar and juice bar, while the basement will be mostly lounge space. The second floor will include a market area, more lounge and bar areas and a hookah area.

Biscayne Bay Brewing Co. has already leased space on the third floor for 10 years, with renewal options. The 6,200 SF microbrewery, whose first location is in suburban Doral, will produce barrel-aged beers and sours in the Downtown location.

Earlier this year, when its lease for the first two floors expired, the Miami chapter of the American Institute of Architects vacated the space, the Miami Herald reports. 

In the five years that it had occupied the space, the organization had spent more than $300K to renovate the first two floors and open the Miami Center for Architecture and Design.

The AIA had leased the space from the previous owner, Scott Robins, who had originally planned to redevelop the building into condos. Robins sold the building to Stambul for $11M.

The current owner of the building is Miami-based Stambul USA, which acquired the property in 2014.

The building dates back to 1917, when it was built as a post office and courthouse. The Miami Weather Bureau was located on the third floor until 1929. A savings and loan acquired the building in the 1930s and occupied it for decades. By the beginning of the 21st century, the building was vacant, though on the National Register of Historic Places since 1989.