Chicago's old post office to be auctioned

CHICAGO, July 9 (UPI) -- The auctioneer handling the sale of the old Chicago Main Post Office says he is hoping for an opening bid of at least $300,000 for the property.

Rick Levin of Rick Levin & Associates Inc. said he is suggesting $300,000 for an opening bid, but there will be no minimum bid when the auction opens at 1 p.m. Aug. 27 at the InterContinental Chicago O'Hare Hotel in suburban Rosemont, The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

Levin said the U.S. Postal Service is committed to selling the building, which it vacated in favor of a new headquarters in 1996. The building was most recently used for filming the bank heist scene in last year's Batman blockbuster "The Dark Knight."

The auctioneer said during a Wednesday tour of the building for members of the media the city of Chicago may bid on the building, but Jacquelyn Heard, Mayor Daley's press secretary, said Chicago officials have "not expressed interest at all in that property."

The building, which is as much as 3 million square feet, holds nearly as much interior space as the Sears Tower and stretches for nearly two blocks, including a portion that passes over the Eisenhower Expressway.