In March. the Postal Service declared a freeze on all real estate projects that were not yet committed or had started construction. Eight hundred projects were frozen, 30 of them in the state. "Officially we can't go ahead on it," Robert Cannon, public affairs manager for the Eastern and Central Massachusetts division of the Service, tells GlobeSt.com. "We never reached any of the official stages." But Cannon adds that the plan is still a "live" one. "Everybody who has been involved in the planning is still working to relocate to South Boston," he notes.

According to Cannon, the South Station building is too large and out of date. Its 1.2 million sf of space is 400,000 sf more than it needs and its four floors make it difficult to accommodate modern postal procedures. "These days you need a two-floor operation," he says. But if the Service wants to move, those interested in developing the South Boston waterfront want it even more. The building sits on 15 acres of potentially prime real estate and, with a move, millions of square feet of development would be opened up.

"We do want to work with the city and state and see a better looking Boston," says Cannon. "We realize we hold a pivotal spot on the renovation of the Boston waterfront. This is a huge project. If we don't vacate here the waterfront renovation might not go through." If the move takes place, another site on E Street here that sits on an additional few acres would be consolidated into the South Boston building.