The Generalitat negotiates the purchase of the Post Office building in Alicante

This has been recognized by the head of the Consell, the socialist Ximo Puig, after closing the acquisition of the Casa de Correos in Valencia for almost 24 million euros, “which culminates the work carried out in recent months to make the most of the buildings that are part of the Valencian heritage”. Puig, in that act, has recognized that the Botànic is “now negotiating in Alicante”.

If the acquisition of the Post Office building in Alicante is closed, the Consell would complete the purchase of the headquarters of the state telegraph company of the four main cities of the Valencian Community, which started in Elche, continued in Castellón and has just been signed in Valencia. The transfer of the Cap i Casal property is expected to be quick, since it is estimated that the Post Office will be able to vacate the bulk of the building at the end of this month of January. In this sense, the Generalitat will be able to have the property before that of Castellón, which was acquired a year ago but will not become part of the autonomous heritage until March.

The company, chaired by Juan Manuel Serrano, is in the process of transformation, so it is shedding the historic buildings that it has in large cities, due to costly maintenance and its limited operability for the current business.

The Post Office building in Alicante is located a few meters from the current headquarters of the Consell in the Alicante capital, known as “Casa de las Brujas”. Thus, if the purchase of the building with the main facade from Gabriel Miró is closed, it would allow a restructuring of the presence of the Generalitat in the city of Alicante. Still, yes, the possible cost of the acquisition of the Post Office building for the regional coffers has not been specified, although it could be around five million euros.

The building, with monumental architecture and a local stylistic reference of traditionalism, underwent a reform more than a decade ago to recover the original façade and empty its interior to give it a new and diaphanous distribution. It is a projected property in 1916 by the architect Luis Ferrero. The first stone was laid a year later and the work was completed in 1920. After seven years closed, the company requested a license to undertake the works in 2007. The re-implantation of Correos was, at that time, the most important initiative in recent years for the recovery of the Traditional Center of the city.

The building is located on a 716-square-meter plot, with façades facing the Gabriel Miró square, and Velarde and San Fernando streets. The façade of the current building is eclectic in style, dominated by symmetry and ornamental elements, and is flanked by two profusely decorated towers. The interventions of the 1940s of the last century distorted largely the facade. Now, shortly after celebrating its centenary, the Generalitat is close to closing its purchase.