JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Three years after the Jacksonville Housing Authority bought the troubled Franklin Arms apartments with plans to renovate them, the agency is abandoning that strategy and starting over.<\/p>\n
More Coverage: Security company claims Eastside apartment complex is \u2018one of the most dangerous properties\u2019 it ever worked<\/a><\/p>\n Long associated with crime and deteriorating living conditions, the Jacksonville City Council has approved a $1 million loan to help demolish the deteriorating downtown complex, with housing officials now pursuing a $50 million redevelopment that would create 130 affordable apartments for seniors.<\/p>\n The Jacksonville Housing Authority plans to replace the aging 98-unit complex with a new affordable housing community for residents age 55 and older. The project is expected to cost about $50 million and will require a mix of public and private financing before construction can begin.<\/p>\n The property, located in Jacksonville\u2019s Downtown East neighborhood, was declared a public nuisance in 2022<\/a> because of unsafe conditions, including mold, rodent infestations and violent crime. In 2023, the Jacksonville Housing Authority purchased the complex<\/a> for $8 million with plans to renovate it.<\/p>\n Under the agency\u2019s current leadership, however, those plans have changed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be doing demolition early fall of 2026,\u201d Jacksonville Housing Authority CEO Cheron Corbett said. \u201cWe\u2019re really excited about this.\u201d<\/p>\n Corbett said an architectural assessment determined it no longer made financial sense to renovate the aging buildings.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the asset was purchased historically, it made sense at that time to potentially rehab the entire asset,\u201d Corbett said. \u201cBut now we\u2019re in 2026 and we recognize that labor costs have increased, also material costs have increased. Those dynamics have changed, so it\u2019s more advantageous for us to demolish the entire structure and redevelop.\u201d<\/p>\n The redevelopment would increase the number of apartments from 98 to 130 while creating housing designed specifically for seniors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be able to bring a structure here that allows individuals to age in place,\u201d Corbett said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the key things that\u2019s really missing here on the Eastside.\u201d<\/p>\n The project comes as demand for affordable housing continues to outpace supply across Jacksonville. Corbett said thousands of people remain on the Jacksonville Housing Authority\u2019s waiting list for housing assistance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need more affordable units, but there\u2019s just not enough supply and so much demand,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n While the City Council\u2019s $1 million loan will help move the project forward, it represents only a small portion of the overall cost.<\/p>\n Corbett said the housing authority plans to assemble financing through several sources, including 4% low-income housing tax credit bonds, financial institutions, local government funding and other gap financing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lot of partners that are going to be in play in regards to making this a total success from a financial standpoint,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Before construction can begin, the project must receive rezoning approval. The first public hearing is scheduled for July 23 before the Jacksonville Planning Commission.<\/p>\n Corbett said community response has largely been positive.<\/p>\n \u201cFranklin Arms has had so much negative history historically,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is just an opportunity to pretty much reboot.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that redeveloping Franklin Arms is only the beginning of the housing authority\u2019s broader plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is just phase one for us,\u201d Corbett said. \u201cWe\u2019re serious about this. We purchased this asset many years ago, been here for a year, and we\u2019re moving this initiative forward as we\u2019re going to do with so many more initiatives here in the city of Jacksonville.\u201d<\/p>\n Upcoming public hearings<\/p>\n Planning Commission: July 23, 2026, at 1 p.m., Ed Ball Building, 214 N. Hogan St., Room 1002<\/p>\n City Council first public hearing: July 28, 2026, at 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 117 W. Duval St.<\/p>\n Land Use and Zoning Committee: Aug. 4, 2026, at 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 117 W. Duval St.<\/p>\n City Council final public hearing: Aug. 11, 2026, at 5 p.m., City Hall Council Chambers, 117 W. Duval St.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 Three years after the Jacksonville Housing Authority bought the troubled Franklin Arms apartments with plans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":334568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[1039,137882,10316,116,118,41160,117],"class_list":["post-334567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-duval-county","tag-franklin-arms","tag-i-team","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-housing-authority","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334567","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=334567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}