JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of people were given hours to move out of an extended stay motel building in Jacksonville’s Baymeadows Center area after the structure was found to be unfit for habitation, according to city records.
According to the city, people living in rooms in Building No. 1 of America’s Best Inn on Dix Ellis Trail had to leave by 5 p.m. Tuesday. The city and management said they are helping those people relocate.
A city of Jacksonville building inspector found there was damage to the second-floor landing between rooms 109 and 200 in Building No. 1, according to a city compliance report.
They also discovered that the damages were not exclusive to the second-floor landing, as there were large cracks seen in the concrete flooring that extended across the entire building, the report shows. Combined, according to the report, it was determined that the structural integrity of the building was compromised and that the building was no longer safe for human occupancy.
Shortly before 7 p.m., News4JAX came across this dog that appeared to have been left abandoned inside a cage with no food or water. The fire dept. called animal control to see if they could contact the dog’s owner.
Tenants told News4JAX that they found out Sunday night that they had to leave. Tenant Dena Paterson said that the city gave them a 24-hour notice and that’s not enough time.
“This says that if I am not out by 5 o’clock, I could get arrested, and everybody is in the same boat,” Paterson said.
Paterson said she had to miss work while trying to figure out where to go, and now, she’ll have even less money to support herself.
“I’m kind of in a panic mode,” Paterson said. “I am in a bind.”
Her neighbor Amy Cocco agreed, saying living with very little money makes it extremely difficult to move out with such short notice and she just lost someone she loved.
“I have lived here two years, and people fall on hard times, unfortunately, this is where I have been. It’s just me. My boyfriend passed away last Monday, and now I have this to deal with,” Cocco said.
The building was officially condemned at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Before that, management for American’s Best Inn told News4JAX that it was moving people to the other two buildings and that the city was giving them assistance to move to another location.
According to the Social Services, 10 children from four different families are among those impacted.
Steve LaForm had lived at America’s Best Inn for nearly three years -- one of many people who turned the extended stay hotel into a permanent home. He is disabled and living on a fixed income with a family.
“What are we going to do? We can’t live out on the street. I’ve got a 16-year-old son. I have animals. I nowhere else to go, no income. I get Social Security. That’s all I get,” he said. “They’ve got all that because my Social Security is $850 a month. I give them $875, so I don’t have anything left. My wife is not working, so what do we do?”
While the city offered to help with a deposit to help get people in another home, LaForm said that he hasn’t found one and that it would have to accommodate his wheelchair.
Duval County records show the motel, located at 8220 Dix Ellis Trail, is owned under Baymeadows Hotel 18 LLC, and on March 31, 2020, it sold for over $3.2 million.
There’s no timeframe on when the issues will be fixed.