The downtown post office is set to move from its current location at 801 I St. to Westfield Downtown Plaza by mid-May, postal officials said Friday.

In the new location, customers will have access to the lobby from 5 a.m. - 9 p.m. seven days per week. There will be no security checkpoint, and those with post office boxes will have access to them every day, said Augustine Ruiz, spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service’s Sacramento district.

“It’s going to be 4,000 square feet, and we’re going to be leasing the location,” he said. “One of the added conveniences is better parking.”

Postal officials previously told The Sacramento Press that there is no need to expand the post office, but they have been looking since January 2011 for a new location to provide better customer service.

The location within the mall does not allow 24-hour lobby access, Ruiz said, because access is limited by mall hours.

It was unclear Friday whether there are currently any plans for a new tenant at the historic 801 I St. building, which has housed the post office since 1933 and is owned by the federal government.

“We are glad this critical service remains downtown and will bring activity to K Street,” Maurice Chaney, spokesman for the city’s economic development department, said in an email Friday.

In addition to the downtown railyards, the planned site of an entertainment and sports complex, the section of K Street between Seventh and 12th streets has been a major focus for the city when it comes to economic development and redevelopment.

The Downtown Plaza mall has been a topic of discussion in that as well, with Westfield representatives talking about selling the property at various times over the past few years.

In addition to the post office’s upcoming move to the shopping center, 24 Hour Fitness recently completed a $10 million remodel in the space, on the side bordered by Seventh Street.

Officials from Westfield Downtown Plaza were not available for comment Friday.