OLD MOUNT DORA POST OFFICE CHANGES HANDS

One of the most talked about downtown Mount Dora buildings, the old post office on Donnelly Street, has officially sold.   

After a handful of prospective purchasers reached out, the owner,  Barchester Corporation, received an unsolicited offer of $900,000.   The offer was accepted on June 5 and in late August the transaction was finalized between Barchester and the buyer, Novo Brothers LLC.

Prior to the sale, the property had been touted as a possible solution to downown’s chronic parking woes.  Barchester had been exclusively negotiating a perpetual land lease with Mount Dora city officials for 11 months and was awaiting the signed $65,000 annual lease agreement, but instead was advised on May 8 that the City was no longer interested in leasing the property, according to John Seravalli of Barchester Corporation.  

The relatively last-minute notification left Barchester only two months to market the land lease before it was scheduled to lose its USPS tenant.  That type of real estate endeavor typically requires a year of marketing due to lower demand, according to Seravalli. The new time constraint spurred the company to sell the property, which requires a fraction of the marketing window due to the higher number of interested parties. 

The new owners plan to renovate the exterior and interior of the 6,000 square- foot building prior to leasing it to a single tenant or dividing it into two or three spaces, according to Walter (Steven) Novillo, one of the principals of Novo Brothers LLC.    The building has approximately 20 parking spaces, which is a rare commodity for downtown Mount Dora.  

Novillo and his brother, James, are no strangers to downtown Mount Dora.  The brothers are principals of Resorts Nationwide Inc. and Rapid Solutions Team which lease office space at 140 W. Fifth Avenue and specialize in timeshares and telemarketing. 

​For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, this month, click here.  Also download the area's free mobile app.  ​​​

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