Orlando’s Mills 50 post office could be razed for new food hall
When they bought the Colonialtown post office back in 2017, Orlando doctors Patrick Dang and Thinh Nguyen had planned to close it when the lease ended in 2020 and build a restaurant on the popular Mills 50 corridor. When COVID stalled those plans, they renewed the post office lease for another five years.
Now the duo is finally bringing its vision to life. Dang said the partners plan to demolish the 70-year-old post office at 611 N. Mills Ave. when the lease expires in 2025, according to a report in GrowthSpotter. In its place, they want to build a new food hall.
“We’re close to downtown,” he said. “I want to bring in something nice where the family can go there and pick out any food they like. Or for a guys’ night out to hang out and have a drink.”
He wants to capitalize on the neighborhood’s reputation as the city’s top destination for Asian cuisine. “Everybody knows you go to Colonial and Mills to get Asian food, that’s where the restaurants are. So my focus is to get an Asian food hall. That’s my main objective.”
Orlando’s Mills 50 neighborhood is booming with new businesses
He hopes to attract a mix of vendors similar to the food court at Lotte Market on West Colonial, where he’s a regular customer.
Dang initially hoped to renovate the 7,200-square-foot post office but decided it would be too costly to bring it up to code and replace all the plumbing. He and Nguyen are now working with Kiana Nieves at Kimley-Horn on a new development plan for the 3/4-acre site.
The postal service, which said in 2017 it would announce an alternate location for the neighborhood upon closure of the existing facility, declined to comment on the status of the branch when contacted by GrowthSpotter last week.
Nieves has filed a master plan with the City of Orlando calling for a 9,000-square-foot food hall on the property. They’re also seeking land use and rezoning to change the use from office to restaurant, including a parking reduction.
Dang said he plans to provide off-site parking on a separate lot he owns that’s about a two-minute walk from the site.
The request also includes waivers for the architectural and landscape buffer requirements and a conditional use permit to allow alcohol sales near an elementary school.
“I want it to be something Orlando can be proud of,” Dang said, adding that he hopes his investment will spur even more property owners to invest in the Mills 50 neighborhood that continues to attract unique Asian food concepts like Sampaguita, Fluffy Fluffy and Kaya — a 2024 James Beard Award finalist and winner of the Orlando Sentinel’s Foodie award for Restaurant of the Year.
More recently, coffee and dessert cafe BinBông has opened in the former iFix Youri at 1200 E Colonial Dr., and the owners of Chuan Lu Garden closed that restaurant in July for a floor-to-ceiling renovation.
If the food-hall project does move forward, it will have serious competition from restaurateurs Jimmy and Johnny Tung, who are converting the 10,000-square-foot Tien Hung grocery at 1110 E. Colonial Dr. into Mills Market. Their concept features Kai Kai, a Cantonese favorite known for its dim sum, char siu and roast duck. Other vendors include UniGirl, a Japanese onigiri shop and Vietnamese bakery and cafe, Bánh Mì Boy.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at lkinsler@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.