JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Across the country, abandoned hotels are being transformed from roadside ruins and into much-needed, permanent affordable housing. Jacksonville refuses to follow those trends, as last month a proposal was rejected to convert an abandoned hotel building near I-95 into a multi-family residential building featuring affordable housing units.
Last year a subsidiary of Code Capital Partners spent $775,000 to purchase a former hotel property at 5719 Cagle Road. The former motel has been a constant nuisance, having been issued a string of code compliance citations from just before it closed in 2007 through a partial demolition that was completed three years ago.
The new owner had proposed to breathe new life into the building by converting the hotel into a multi-family structure with 86 one bedroom and studio apartments, 23 extended stay rental rooms, and a small amenity center.
Code Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm with offices in New York and Connecticut, specializes in developing, acquiring and rehabilitating affordable multifamily properties through Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) financing.
The company owns more than 9,000 affordable housing units throughout the U.S., including low-income housing holdings in Florida. Quite simply, this is a company that has delivered on their promise of providing adequate, affordable housing to people in need.
The 3-story, 89,574 square foot hotel building was originally opened in 1973 and sits in a centralized location near University Boulevard, Bowden Road, and the I-95 Expressway. The property is zoned CCG-1. The redevelopment proposal sought to receive an exception, as the CCG-1 zoning designation requires that multi-family residential development possess a mixed-use component, with residential uses not exceeding 80 percent of the building and no more than 60 housing units per acre.