JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville officials and community leaders broke ground on five new affordable homes in the Durkeeville neighborhood on Friday morning.
The City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Housing Authority and First Coast Construction held a ceremony to break ground on the homes that will be built on Grothe Street, north of Kings Road and west of I-95.
“This is one of those neighborhoods that has been disinvested for so long, and it’s truly such a historic and wonderful neighborhood. We just wanted to make a statement here to say that this is just the beginning. We are investing in this neighborhood, in affordable housing, especially because it is just so critical,” Mayor Donna Deegan said.
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According to Deegan, there are 24,000 residents who are currently on the waitlist for affordable housing.
“It’s been a long time since the city and JHA have had a working partnership, and so it’s really important that we are on the same page and that we’re working in tandem to see, where can we find funds, how can we be a good partner, and how can we create more of that affordable housing?” Deegan said.
Locals like Roosevelt Moreland said they are all for building more affordable housing, as long as the rent is actually affordable.
“I think that’s a good idea, a very good idea, but the price of them could come down a little bit so people can afford the rental,” Moreland said.
Some residents expressed concerns about losing the history and culture of Durkeeville with so many new homes popping up.
But lifelong Durkeeville resident Roderick Dorsey sees it differently.
“It’s an upgrade. These so many places been existing empty for 50 years. I’ll be 68 this month, on Juneteenth. I’m so glad that whoever did this, I thank them. I thank the city and whoever’s involved. I thank them. This is a wonderful upgrade,” Dorsey said.
The groundbreaking came after a quarter of those surveyed for a recent University of North Florida Public Opinion Research Lab (PORL) poll said the most important problem facing Jacksonville is housing costs.
Among the 742 registered Duval County voters surveyed, crime came in a distant second as the top issue at 12%, followed by education, transportation and infrastructure, each with 9%. The economy and property taxes each received 8%.
When asked about the new poll on Tuesday, Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan said she can’t remember the last time a poll was done where crime wasn’t number one in terms of people’s concerns.
“I think that speaks to what a great job JSO has done in terms of bringing the violent crime numbers down, but I think also it speaks to the level of pain that our community is feeling over affordable housing. So we really have to continue to address that, and this gives us a great impetus to continue to do that,” Deegan said.
Cheron Corbett Waller recently stepped into the CEO role at the Jacksonville Housing Authority.
Corbett has said her primary focus is on expanding affordable housing and reducing the extensive wait lists for the Housing Choice Voucher Program and the Public Housing Program.