Post office delivering L.A. properties to market: site in Culver City is in escrow, key lot in Venice for sale.

IT has been a tough year for the United States Postal Service, with projected losses of $7 billion for the fiscal year that ends this month. Mail volume is down: In 2006, the U.S. Postal Service handled 213 billion pieces of mail, but estimates that in this fiscal year it will handle just 175 billion pieces. The decrease can be attributed to the recession and the rise of the Internet. As a result, the Postal Service is evaluating its real estate holdings and selling off properties when appropriate, according to Don Smeraldi, manager of corporate communications for the Postal Service.

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Grubb & Ellis Co. has been hired to handle sales of some local properties. One site, a post office in downtown Culver City, is currently in escrow. Another property, at 313 Grand Blvd. in Venice, was recently listed without an asking price.

"The economy of course has had an impact," Smeraldi said. "It is creating more of a sense of urgency to find ways to be more efficient and reduce facility needs."

The 78,000-square-foot Venice property is a postal annex used for the distribution and sorting of mail. Just blocks from the beach, the site has prime development potential, said broker Martin McDermott of Grubb & Ellis.

"This is something in a part of town where land sells in 4,000-square-foot parcels," he said. "This property represents an irreplaceable chance for somebody to assemble a great deal of commercial land between Abbot Kinney and the beach."

Proposals for the site are due by Sept. 30. McDermott said that he is working with the Postal Service to determine whether two other Southern California properties should be sold.