The cash-strapped U.S. Postal Service is unloading 5 acres of vacant land on A Street in South Boston – an offering that could become a game-changer in the long, drawn-out scramble to land one of the region’s most coveted tenants, the FBI.

Three development sources have said that the lot, which is adjacent to Channel Center and Gillette’s manufacturing facility, is squarely in the sights of Commonwealth Ventures president Dick Galvin. Galvin and mayoral confidante Bob Walsh reportedly took a run at the site last spring, when the Postal Service first put the 5-acre lot on the market. They were unable to come to an agreement on price, but since that time, the Postal Service’s finances have been seriously tested. CB Richard Ellis is marketing the lot for the Postal Service. The brokerage firm had no comment. Galvin also did not return a call for comment.

Galvin, who developed neighboring Channel Center and whose firm has offices in the A Street complex, would be well-positioned to leverage the Postal Service plot into significant new construction. Channel Center Holdings, a firm he controls, owns the two vacant lots between the Postal Service lot and Channel Center. The plan, the development sources said, is to combine the Channel Center Holdings lots with the Postal Service’s 5-acre lot, and then put a build-to-suit home for the FBI on the combined parcel.

Courting The Feds

The quest to land the FBI, which began in the spring of 2007, is rife with political intrigue. Boston Mayor Tom Menino has long sought to keep the FBI’s regional offices in the city. And political and development insiders believe that, with Menino eyeing an unprecedented fifth term in office, he can’t afford to lose the FBI. The economic downturn and banking meltdown have all but iced development along the waterfront – a longstanding mayoral priority. With the redevelopment of Filene’s an embarrassing hole in the ground, his plans to build a 1,000-foot tower and move City Hall to the waterfront dead on arrival and the toughest race of his life looming, Menino badly needs a win – especially in South Boston, home of mayoral candidate and city councilor Michael Flaherty.

The FBI’s search has centered on the Seaport district, which boasts easy access to the Moakley federal courthouse. The FBI reportedly took a long, hard look at Menino pal Joe Fallon’s Fan Pier before deciding that price and security concerns made the development infeasible. The FBI, which is eyeing between 230,000 and 270,000 square feet, would have been Fan Pier’s anchor tenant. Instead, Fallon’s first office tower is now rising without one. Now another friend of the mayor’s, Walsh, wants to bring the feds to the neighborhood.

Another South Boston site, controlled by MassPort and Tim Pappas, and one in Chelsea, owned by ACS Development, were reportedly the two finalists to land the FBI. Galvin and Walsh’s renewed interest in the Postal Service site is seen as a way to reinvigorate the FBI’s interest in his site, which the agency had previously passed over. But it also has the potential to bring Menino into conflict with Congressman Mike Capuano, who has been pushing hard for the Chelsea site.

FBI’s Mum On Move

The FBI’s relocation process has been shrouded in secrecy. Prospective bidders have been barred from speaking publicly about their bids, and rumor and speculation have run wild. The FBI has signed a short-term lease extension at Center Plaza. Its lease now expires at the end of July, 2011. Last fall, it was reported that the FBI had signed and put its office search on hold, but Paula Santangelo, a spokeswoman for the federal government’s General Services Administration, said in an e-mail, “The project to find new headquarters space for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston is not on hold.” She added, “In order to maintain the integrity of the procurement, we can’t release any details about the timeline for the project.”

One development source said that by dragging their feet on the Postal Service lot last year, Galvin and Walsh may have missed their window of opportunity. The GSA is requiring that bidders control the land they’re offering up to the feds.

The 5-acre South Boston lot, part of the Postal Service’s sizable real estate holdings in Fort Point, was formerly used for truck storage. The lot’s sale is unrelated to the agency’s planned move from South Station to the area around the Reserved Channel waterway in South Boston.

Postal Service spokeswoman Sue Brennan cast the sale as part of a wider, nationwide effort to combat rapidly falling revenues. The lot is one of approximately 200 pieces of real estate the Postal Service is either actively marketing or considering putting up for sale.

“In 2008, we had a $3-billion loss in revenue, and this year is looking exponentially worse,” she said. “Nationwide, we’re looking at excess property to sell. We have not really embarked upon something like this before. We’ve never done it at this level. It’s a revenue generation opportunity for us. It’s our fiscal responsibility.”

Brennan declined to identify the party the Postal Service was negotiating with last year, saying, “The purchaser cannot be identified until a contract is signed.”

“It’ll be a highly competitive bid,” one development source said, insisting that “it’s not a foregone conclusion” that Galvin will win the Postal Service lot. “The parcel will be of great interest to a lot of developers, and the government is usually driven by price. That being said, it doesn’t bode well for Chelsea.” â–