New bids sought for Chicago post office

CHICAGO, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The U.S. Postal Service hopes to announce a new buyer for the old Chicago Post Office by the end of the month, a spokesman for the agency says.

Spokesman Mark Reynolds says British developer Bill Davies, who had the $40 million winning bid at the August auction for the building, is no longer in the running, the Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday.

Reynolds says the postal service will turn to the other bidders at the auction to find a buyer for the giant 14-floor building built in 1932.

The runner-up bidder, Chicago attorney Nathaniel Hsieh, says he is outraged that the postal service mailed letters to all of the auction participants to solicit new bids rather than exercising his back-up contract.

"We're filing a complaint in (the) morning," Hsieh said Tuesday. "It's unfair."

The old Chicago post office has been vacant since 1995.