{"id":162580,"date":"2026-02-20T13:47:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162580\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T13:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T13:47:07","slug":"nonprofit-gets-approval-from-planning-commission-to-convert-ramada-hotel-to-veterans-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/162580\/","title":{"rendered":"Nonprofit gets approval from Planning Commission to convert Ramada hotel to veterans housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The Jacksonville Planning Commission granted approval to convert a hotel into multifamily housing for veterans, according to our news partners at the Jacksonville Daily Record.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a nonprofit that provides housing for American military veterans, got the approval on Thursday to renovate the property on Baymeadows Road and convert it into 145 multifamily apartment units, 18-20 standalone homes and amenities.<\/p>\n

RELATED | Nonprofit aims to convert Ramada hotel on Baymeadows Road to affordable housing for veterans<\/a><\/p>\n

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation was granted approval on AD-26-05 and E-25-04, an administrative deviation and zoning exception for the property, on a 7-0 vote, with Commissioner Amy Fu absent from the meeting. <\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s decision constituted final action on the application, with City Council approval not needed. <\/p>\n

The hotel, still shown on the Ramada website, appears closed. Online reservations are not being accepted. Calls to the front desk disconnect.<\/p>\n

Property records show the hotel was built in 1974 and comprises two parcels totaling 5.18 acres. The Knights 18 Baymeadows LLC bought the hotel in 2021 for $8.22 million.<\/p>\n

Gavin Naples, the foundation\u2019s vice president, told News4JAX that the organization aims to help address homelessness and veterans\u2019 issues in large metropolitan areas throughout the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is long-term supportive housing. This is not a transitional site. This not a shelter, this is not something that\u2019s subsidized by federal government,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is all the acquisition, redevelopment and construction and maintenance in perpetuity is funded by the generosity of the American public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each apartment unit will have its own kitchen and bathroom, Naples said. The first floor of the building will include libraries, lounges, dining areas, gyms, workforce redevelopment centers and more, according to the zoning exception application.<\/p>\n

Read more at the Jacksonville Daily Record<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 The Jacksonville Planning Commission granted approval to convert a hotel into multifamily housing for veterans,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1644,116,118,117,2583,3393],"class_list":["post-162580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-housing","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-military","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}