Package deal: Long-vacant former post office given new lease on life

It took eight months of wrangling with the U.S. Postal Service bureaucracy and working with a local historical society to piece together a muddled title. But in December, Plant City officials finalized its acquisition of the former downtown post office, a building on the prime corner of Reynolds and Wheeler streets that sat vacant and dilapidated for more than a decade.

Built in 1935, the 19,000-square-foot, three-level building was expanded in 1961 and is one of the few commercial structures in the area to boast a full basement, says Plant City City Manager Bill McDaniel. He was appointed in January 2018 and now must figure out what to do with the property, which the city acquired for $315,000, paid from its general fund.