Rootin4Jax<\/a> showed up to clean it out.<\/p>\n\u201cWe said, hey, we see a problem in the community, so we decided to show up and take some action and report it to the city so that they are aware of it \u2014 to get something going, to do something about it,\u201d said Jesse Jones, the creator of Rootin4Jax, a page dedicated to highlighting historic buildings and preservation in Jacksonville.<\/p>\n
Six complaints, one neglected property<\/p>\n
According to the city of Jacksonville, the property has racked up six complaints and case records in the last five years. Those complaints include overgrowth, trash and debris, an unsecured vacant structure, and unsafe structural conditions.<\/p>\n
The city confirmed it has contacted the owner \u2014 Duval Street Properties LLC \u2014 multiple times.<\/p>\n
A million-dollar purchase, a $132,000 market value<\/p>\n
County records tell a complicated financial story. The property sold for $300,000 in 2002. Then, on December 28, 2022, it sold again for $950,000. Its current market value is listed at just $132,000.<\/p>\n
Jones did not hold back when asked about the price tag.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou spent almost a million dollars to not even pick up the trash,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Neighbors see it every day<\/p>\n
The neglect is hard to ignore. Just across the street sit the Lofts at the Cathedral, a new apartment complex where residents look directly onto the property.<\/p>\n
Jones said properties like this one are holding the neighborhood back.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s properties like this that continue to hold downtown back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
What volunteers hope happens next<\/p>\n
Rootin4Jax volunteers pushed the trash to the sidewalk and reported the blight to the city, hoping officials will pick it up. But the bigger question \u2014 what the owner plans to do with the property \u2014 remains unanswered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand a property being vacant, but when you have an owner that recently bought a property for almost a million dollars and they are not even doing the bare minimum or picking up the trash to maintain those properties, it makes you wonder what is the intention behind it,\u201d Jones said. \u201cAre you wanting to tear it down? Do you have other motives?\u201d<\/p>\n
Volunteers hope the answer is not demolition. For now, they are watching \u2014 and cleaning up \u2014 what they can.<\/p>\n
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