An Orlando post office building in the Mills 50 District won’t be a place to mail letters after its postal lease expires in 2020.
Two Orlando doctors purchased a downtown Orlando post office building with plans to redevelop it after the postal lease expires in 2020.
Nestled in the Mills/50 District, the one-story, concreteblock building at 611 N. Mills Ave. was built more than six decades ago and has long served as the post office for neighborhoods and businesses on the east end of downtown.
Tony Nguyen, of TRG Group KW Commercial, represented the husband and wife team of Patrick Dang and Thinh Nguyen in their purchase of the property for $1.3 million. The Orlandoarea buyers, he said, plan to renovate the existing building rather than tear it down, and they envision a restaurant or other retail use.
The federal government leases the site for less than $10 per square foot, which is about half the going rate for retail space in that area, Tony Nguyen said.
Early Tuesday morning, a spokesperson for the postal system said details would be forthcoming about plans to continue a postal operation in that vicinity.
Unlike other parts of the overall downtown area, that pocket of Orlando has experienced limited demolition-driven redevelopment.
The area is home to a thriving Asian community with Vietnamese restaurants and businesses as well as longtime businesses including Colonial Photo and Hobby. That pocket of Orlando is popular for mural paintings on buildings, dumpsters and utility boxes.
The sellers, including Paul D. Chairo of Maitland, owned the property for more than a decade and paid $975,000 for it.
Elsewhere in Central Florida, the postal service had public hearings last month about relocating downtown Mount Dora’s postal retail operation from 711 N. Donnelly St. Any relocation wouldn’t affect mail delivery, according to the postal service.
The federal government leases the site for less than $10 per square foot, which is about half the going rate for retail space in that area, Tony Nguyen said.