From Burlington Mail Terminal to Commerce Village and Cafe Postale

The recently renovated Burling Mail Terminal sits on the west side of the 10th Street viaduct across from the former Burlington Station. Designed in the Daylight Factory-style by architect W.T. Krausch who worked for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Built in 1926, the five-story building at 950 S 10th Street featured reinforced concrete frames,…

Patrick Wyman

January 18, 2024

4–6 minutes

boyd jones construction, burlington mail terminal, burlington train station, BVH Architecture, cafe postale, commerce village, National Register of Historic Places, Rail and Commerce Historic District, Union Station, United States Postal Service, Warren Distribution

January 18, 2024

Built in 1926, the five-story building at 950 S 10th Street featured reinforced concrete frames, massive steel sash windows and open floor plans that were designed to maximize natural lighting for increased productivity and ventilation. The 96,000 square foot, triangular structure was built so that the railroad could secure a contract to deliver mail by train for the United States Postal Service.

The west end of the Burlington Mail Terminal. Courtesy of Durham Museum.

The tracks ran through the northern end of the lower level allowing mail to be unloaded. It also had catwalks so that postal inspectors could keep an eye on the employees that were processing the mail down below. Those same inspectors used an enclosed brick staircase allowing them to move from floor to floor without being noticed. The most visible aspect of the building from the outside other than its shape were the large windows on all four sides.

Looking at the south and east sides for the Burlington Mail Terminal. The narrow end of the building is facing 10th Street. Courtesy of Cafe Postale.

Even with the construction of a new main post office to the west, the mail terminal building continued to operate as a mail sorting facility until 1972. After that most bulk mail was being handled through a new train service that delivered mail from Chicago to Oakland 50 hours later. This building continued to serve as a storage facility for the warehouse due to the usefulness of the conveyor belt system that took mail back-and-forth to the new post office. The building was vacated by the mid-1990’s. In 2007 an out-of-town developer unsuccessfully planned to turn the building into 71 luxury apartments.

Aerial photograph of the Burlington mail Terminal with Burlington Train Station (KETV) across the 10th Street bridge and Union Station (Durham Museum) on the left.

The old mail terminal spent half its life crumbling under the stress of neglect and disuse until it was purchased and renovated in 2015. It was one of the largest historic tax credit projects in the state. The renovated building was renamed as the Rail & Commerce Building when it reopened in 2017. The name was inspired by the historic Rail and Commerce District in which it is located. The 19-block area included large-scale commercial development along the tracks and downtown from 10th to 15th Streets. The district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

The north side of the Burlington Mail Terminal before it was renovated. Courtesy of PJ Morgan Real Estate.

Inside the Burlington Mail Terminal before it was renovated. Courtesy of PJ Morgan Real Estate.

When an announcement was made that the building would be renovated, the developer said that it wanted to take an old building and make it new while preserving what they could. The renovated building includes modern amenities, conference rooms, open and natural lighted work areas and a fitness center in addition to game and break rooms. In a past-present metaphor, a postal chute that was once used to drop mail to lower levels had a hole cut into it allowing people to pass through it. The large windows allow light to pour in while providing unique views of the surrounding area. It strives for zero waste and is carbon neutral and sustainable with rooftop solar panels.

North side of the Burlington Mail Terminal after it was renovated. Courtesy of BVH Architecture.

The ground floor is open to startups and entrepreneurs and offers the opportunity to rent desks and office suites. The rest of the building serves as offices to Boyd Jones Construction, Warren Distribution and others. On street level facing 10th is Café Postale which opened in 2021. The coffee shop offers both breakfast and lunch items. In the evening the space transforms into a unique event space for weddings, corporate events and the like. Like the rest of the building, the cafe and event center has large windows allowing for an abundance of natural light in addition to an outdoor patio space. It even allows customers to see the observation areas where inspectors once monitored the mail processing below.

Looking towards the renovated Burlington Mail Terminal building with Cafe Postal facing 10th Street.

Opened in 2016, the Rail & Commerce building sits along a revitalized 10th Street corridor that also includes new businesses such as Saro Cider and Sips on 10th as well as the old Union Station turned-Durham Museum and the old Burlington Station-turned KETV.

Please feel free to comment and share your memories. Thank you for following along as I explore Omaha and the surrounding area!