JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Planning Commission approved turning a troubled Northside Jacksonville motel into apartments.
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The motel is the Home 1 Great Stay on Harts Road near the Anheuser-Busch brewery, formerly known as the Gold Rush Motel.
Back in 2023, Councilman Reggie Gaffney Jr. said he wanted the nuisance and abatement board to close the hotel because of its history with violence and drugs.
JDH Developers is an Atlanta-based company that converts hotels and motels into apartment buildings. Its website lists the property as Monarch Studios at Jacksonville, one of its studio apartment rental properties.
“With recent renovations completed in 2023, the property offers a strong starting point for a studio apartment conversion. The existing exterior corridor layout supports efficient operations while allowing the asset to be repositioned toward residential or extended stay use,” the company’s website says.
Josh Cockrell, a lobbyist representing the developer, told the Jacksonville Daily Record in a text that the apartments would be 300-square-foot studio units, with monthly rents from $1,000 to $1,200.
Cockrell said it would take six to eight months to renovate and build out the units and would include rebranding the property.
The commission’s decision, without an appeal to Council, is final on matters of zoning exceptions and administrative deviations.
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