The small post office at 51321 Avenida Bermudas used to sit next to Tower Market and its gas pumps. Stopping there worked for one errand or for two. You could buy stamps and then a coffee, clear a PO box and then fill the tank. The U.S. Postal Service's September schedule ended that routine last Friday. The USPS announcement set Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, as the last day of retail and PO Box service at the La Quinta Cove facility. It made the suspension effective Nov. 14 and gave the reason as "loss of lease."
For owners at The Tradition, whose clubhouse sits at 78505 Old Avenue 52, the closure changes less than it first seems. It also changes something more lasting. Home delivery stays the same. Under the USPS plan, the counter and the boxes go to an office about three miles away. The building itself is slated to come down so Tower Market can grow.
What moved, and what stayed put
The Cove office never sent out carriers. A USPS spokesperson told KESQ News Channel 3 that mail carriers do not work out of the Cove location, so La Quinta's home delivery is not affected by the closure. Mail and packages addressed to a home behind the gate keep coming the same way.
USPS scheduled everything that needs a person behind a counter to move to the La Quinta Main Post Office at 79125 Corporate Centre Dr. KESQ reported that the Cove staff would transfer there too, to help with the extra customers.
| Service | Before Nov. 14 | From Nov. 14, per USPS |
|---|---|---|
| Home mail delivery | Unchanged | Unchanged |
| PO Box | Avenida Bermudas, in the Cove | 79125 Corporate Centre Dr., lobby open 24 hours |
| Retail counter | Avenida Bermudas | Corporate Centre Dr., Mon–Fri 8 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat 9 a.m.–5 p.m. |
| Passports, Smart Lockers, self-serve kiosks | Not part of the Cove listing | Available at Corporate Centre Dr. |
The Cove office was the one you could walk to from the village, and the replacement is a drive. USPS puts the two offices about three miles apart. The main office does offer more, though. It has passport service, USPS Smart Lockers, self-serve kiosks, and a PO Box lobby that never closes. If you used to clear a Cove box on the way to a tee time, you can now pick a time that suits you, but from a different part of town.
Why the lease ran out
USPS called it a loss of lease and gave no further detail. The Palm Springs Desert Sun explained more in September. It reported that the longtime Cove post office is slated for demolition as part of an expansion of the neighboring Tower Market and gas station. It also reported that city officials approved that expansion more than a year earlier but did not announce the post office closure to the public.
The approval is on the City of La Quinta's website. The Tower Market Expansion project page lists the address as 77985 Avenida Montezuma, at the southwest corner of Avenida Montezuma and Avenida Bermudas. The plan calls for a larger building and more fuel pumps on a site of about 0.90 acres. The Planning Commission approved it at its Feb. 25, 2025 meeting under Resolution No. 2025-001.
So the post office closing and Tower Market growing come from one decision made almost two years ago. In 2025 it looked like a gas-station permit. In November 2026 it means the stamp counter has left the Cove. Tower Market stays on the corner, and the city's plans call for it to get bigger. If you have spent years stopping at both, you are losing one stop and gaining a larger version of the other.
The neighbors who want a counter back
On Nov. 6, a petition on change.org went up asking the city and USPS to find a new retail and PO Box location in Old Town or the Cove. It asks them to consider city-owned or partner space for a USPS unit or contract station, and to keep the public updated. The request is specific. It asks for a small postal presence where people already walk, which is what the Avenida Bermudas office was. It does not ask to stop the market expansion.
For Tradition owners who also spend time in Old Town, the petition is the one thing to watch on this story. Any future postal counter in the Cove or Old Town would most likely come through the kind of city or partner arrangement it describes.
A few ways to handle mail this season
A homeowner at The Tradition now has three realistic options, depending on the errand.
- Corporate Centre Drive for anything official. PO boxes, passports, Smart Locker pickups and counter mailings all go to 79125 Corporate Centre Dr. The lobby is open around the clock, so box checks don't have to fit the 8-to-5 weekday hours.
- Washington Street for shipping. LQ Postal Connection on Washington Street calls itself an official USPS Approved Shipper that sells USPS mailing and shipping products. The same shop is also an authorized FedEx ship center and drop-off and an authorized UPS shipping outlet. You can send a box by any of the three carriers at one counter.
- usps.com for the rest. The Postal Service's release points customers to its website for holding mail, setting up Premium Forwarding Service, printing labels and paying postage through Click-N-Ship, and ordering free Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes. The customer line is 1-800-275-8777. For a part-time household, hold and forwarding are the tools that matter, and neither one needs a counter visit. The USPS Post Office Locator lists every other office in the valley.
If you kept a box in the Cove, a few things are worth sorting out before your first holiday card arrives:
- Confirm where your box now lives at the main office before giving the address to anyone new.
- Plan box visits around the 24-hour lobby instead of the counter hours.
- Ask at the main office how its USPS Smart Lockers work for package pickup.
The first December without a Cove counter
This is the first busy mailing season without the Avenida Bermudas counter, and it falls in the weeks when the resort next door hosts the most events. La Quinta Resort's holiday calendar starts the season with its annual tree lighting on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2026, at 4 p.m. on Main Drive. The evening includes live music, cookies, cocoa and carols. The same morning, Breakfast with Santa runs at 9 and 11 a.m., and it returns Saturday, Dec. 19. Thanksgiving weekend, Nov. 26 through 28, Tracy Austin leads family tennis clinics at the Tennis Center from 10 to 11 a.m.
Saturdays fill up from there. Morgan's in the desert hosts cooking demonstrations at 10 a.m. from Nov. 28 through Dec. 19. Chestnut roasting and dessert demonstrations run in the lobby from 7 to 9 p.m. over the same weeks. Every Saturday in December, the Plaza Holiday Market at The Shops at La Quinta Resort brings in local vendors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Holiday movies on the Main Lawn play at 7 p.m. on select Fridays through Sundays from Nov. 27 to Dec. 27, with free popcorn and cocoa.
That changes the gift errand. A Saturday at the Plaza Holiday Market used to end with a short walk-and-drive to the counter on Avenida Bermudas. This year the box goes to Washington Street or Corporate Centre Drive, or gets a Click-N-Ship label printed at home before the trip. Tower Market keeps its corner, and the plan approved in 2025 calls for a bigger store and more pumps there.
Which errands stay in the Cove and which now mean a drive is the kind of detail buyers ask about when they tour a home at The Tradition. At Rich Nolan, that local knowledge goes into every listing story we tell for homes at The Tradition. If you're thinking about how your home would come across to a buyer this season, schedule a design-first marketing consultation.
