When it comes to centralized mailboxes, there are installations that fare better than others. To achieve a USPS-compliant mailbox installation, in addition to choosing USPS-approved mailboxes, you’ll want to ensure that resident and carrier convenience, accessibility, safety and security are considered.

Below are four installation ideas for multifamily residences that check the boxes to blend aesthetics with functionality.

Loree Apartment Mailbox Kiosk in Jacksonville, FL

This outside mail and package center arrangement at Loree Apartments in Jacksonville, Florida is a perfect example of combining resident convenience while meeting U.S. Postal Service requirements. The USPS recommends centralized mailbox kiosks have a covered-type structure to help protect residents and mail carriers from weather conditions like rain, excessive heat or blizzards. When days are shorter, lighted covered structures also add safety and security for both mail delivery and resident retrieval.

The Florence 4C mailboxes installed at Loree are USPS approved and comply with all STD-4C requirements for new construction and replacement renovations. Dark Bronze finish was selected for this installation, but Florence provides eight powder coat finish options and a myriad of mailbox/parcel locker configurations and sizes to meet your property’s functional and aesthetic needs.

Providing residents with both mail and package convenience, centralized mailboxes include shared parcel lockers that utilize a dual captive locking system that allows USPS to deliver a package to the locker, leaving the key in the resident’s mailbox. The package can then be retrieved by the resident, leaving the key retained or “trapped” securely in the lock for the mail carrier to release and use again for the next package.

An outgoing mail compartment is available in most units, providing residents with a convenient, secure method of sending their personal mail from home. The outgoing mail compartment features an anti-fish comb for security and a protective hood to help keep rain and snow out.

Flatbush Gardens in Brooklyn, NY

New York is densely populated and fast-moving, so mail carriers in the Big Apple have a lot to contend with and need efficiency to keep up. This mailbox project in Flatbush Gardens, a 52-building apartment community housing 2,500 residents, replaced a previous underground mailroom that was inefficient and outdated with outside clustered mailboxes distributed conveniently throughout the community.

Mail and package delivery equipment replacement projects can help increase resident satisfaction and mail carrier efficiency while also improving property value. Flatbush Gardens management worked closely with their local USPS delivery planning office and decided to install Florence Cluster Box Units (CBUs) throughout the community to provide residents enhanced convenience, safety and capacity for USPS package deliveries.

Florence and an Authorized Dealer partnered with Flatbush to support the project planning process, resulting in installing cluster mailboxes conveniently near each building, so residents no longer had to walk long distances to retrieve their mail. The new outdoor locations provided a more accessible, safer environment for retrieving mail and packages, and more capacity for both as CBUs are designed with larger mail compartments and shared parcel lockers to ensure the most popular sizes of packages can be delivered into the CBU eliminating the need for residents to pick up packages elsewhere.

Flatbush Management chose to add decorative accessories to their Florence cluster boxes including designer caps and pedestal covers. Accessorizing their mailboxes not only enhances their community aesthetics but also improves the property’s value.

Kingstowne Mailboxes in Arlington, VA

The Kingstowne Residential Owners Corporation, or KROC, recognized that their 25-year old centralized mail delivery equipment scattered across their 30 neighborhood communities was in dire need of replacement after residents complained about worn out, inconvenient, uneven boxes that were standing over broken concrete pads dangerously close to the street.

Most of the mailbox units had limited capacity with no parcel lockers, so packages were often placed on doorsteps with high exposure to weather and package thieves.

Florence, via an Authorized Dealer, helped the property design a plan and replace their old mail delivery equipment with new outdoor Cluster Box Units (CBU), bringing their property’s mail delivery equipment up to current USPS service standards. The broken pads were replaced with new concrete and the new mailboxes were installed in locations with more accessible and safer approaches farther away from the street. Capacity for resident mail drastically improved now that each unit has shared parcel lockers for secure, convenient package delivery in addition to larger resident mail compartments accommodating small packages and flat mail like magazines and catalogs.

First Creek Farm Apartments in Denver, CO

A growing residential community in Denver, First Creek Farm was in desperate need of some much-needed mailbox repairs after years of vandalism and harsh sunshine. They decided to upgrade to a USPS STD-4C design for their mailroom, brought to them by an Authorized Florence Dealer.

The old mailboxes were outdated and flimsy compared to today’s design and safety standards. The community was seeing a lot of mailbox break-ins, so they went with a 4-sided outdoor mailroom design.

Resident satisfaction skyrocketed following the installation of the new Florence high-quality 4C mailboxes coupled with the Dealer’s commitment to service by providing an installation with excellent accessibility in an aesthetically pleasing setting. The management office used to get complaints 2-3 times a week about vandalism, but since the new installation, there have been zero issues.

First Creek Farm found that their chosen Florence centralized mailbox solution ensured resident mail and package safety and convenience, aligned with the HOA’s color palette and design aesthetic, and fully satisfied USPS compliance and service requirements.

Solutions by Florence

Florence has spent decades working with the U.S. Postal Service to ensure that all its centralized mailbox systems are built to USPS design and security standards. Florence and its national network of authorized dealers are top experts in designing USPS compliant mailrooms and outdoor mail centers so you don’t have to be.

If you’re looking for a stunning, specialized mailbox installation, look no further than Florence. Check out Florence products or find a dealer near you for one-on-one help.