JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A proposed plan to tear down a YMCA campus in a Jacksonville neighborhood to make way for an affordable housing complex is getting some pushback from area residents.
Jacksonville Councilman Joe Carlucci confirmed on Monday a developer is looking to turn the YMCA Youth Development Campus on Old Kings Road South into affordable housing. Carlucci is hosting a town hall meeting on Wednesday at the duPont Family YMCA at 7373 Old Kings Road South at 6 p.m. to discuss the plan.
Carlucci said the YMCA is basically closed to the general public and has been for a while. In fact, the location is not listed as an active location on the YMCA website and the parking lot and pool are usually empty.
The Jacksonville Daily Record reported in 2021 that the 13-acre campus was being sold to Virginia-based Monday Properties Investments for an undisclosed sum, but according to Duval County property records, the property is still owned by the YMCA.
The campus is also home to the New American Welcome Center, a program that helps assimilate immigrants who have moved to Jacksonville by providing services including teaching English and seeking citizenship status.
Penny Zuber, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of First Coast YMCA told News4JAX the sale of the property is under contract and First Coast YMCA will continue operations at the location until the sale has been completed.
“The First Coast YMCA has been actively pursuing a new permanent location for the New American Welcome Center so that we can continue to offer vital programs and services to newcomers in our community,” Zuber said in a statement.
The YMCA of Florida’s First Coast board of directors and senior leadership decided to sell the duPont YMCA to offset financial losses related to COVID-19 in 2020, according to the Daily Record.
Alex Sifakis, President of JWB Real Estate Companies, is now proposing building affordable housing on the site, Carlucci said.
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Although many city leaders are pushing to build more affordable housing in Jacksonville, some San Jose residents living nearby are trying to gather support against the project ahead of a Wednesday town hall hosted by Carlucci.
“We’re going to have more traffic, more noise, more pollution, probably, and it’s gonna affect our area,” said resident Fran Maneely. “While it’s essential to avoid stereotypes, and I’m not stereotyping anybody, studies have shown correlations between population density and certain crime rates.”
Maneely spent the weekend going to door-to-door, handing out hundreds of flyers to her neighbors. The big concerns for some are preserving the character of the neighborhood and how affordable housing might impact property values.
“I really don’t think that that’s in the best interest of our community. Ideally, what I like to see is some type of maybe a library or a park for some of the children that are already here,” resident Pam Bause said.
Carlucci said the project is in the early stages and he doesn’t believe a rezoning bill has been filed yet.
“What we want right there is a community asset, something that benefits the neighborhood. So that’s the goal. And we got to figure out whether that’s this development, another development, or if things can be changed, that’s why we want to get everybody to the table in the first inning, not the ninth inning,” Carlucci said.
